3rd Party State

[John Dibble]

What State will be the first to vote for a 3rd party candidate? When will it happen?

The next most likely IMHO is WI with a Libertarian win.  Maybe this year, maybe next.  Might have to wait until Ed Thompson wins the governor's race, and people can accept that the world will not dissolve into anarchy if a Libertarian comes into power.

Whether we win or not, we aren't going away.  We are close to a breakthrough.  We are building our party from the ground up.  We are now winning city and county elections on a regular basis, and state office wins are becoming more common.

We're here, we're near.  Get used to it.

The Libertarian got 0.26% of the vote in the 2000 presidential election in Wisconsin.   The Libertarian won't break 1% there in 2004 or 2008.

How do libertarians expect people to trust their ideas about government when they are so freakin' delusional about political realities!  

We're less delusional than you think. Maybe you just don't like our optimism.

Edit - also, our gubentorial candidate in WI(Ed Thompson) got 11% of the vote in 2002. We also stand a good chance of getting a representative into the state house there(he's raised more funds than all his opponents combined, and Ed Thompson got 32% of the vote in that district).

[John Dibble]

I'm sorry, but there are people on this forum who actually think Badnarik might WIN THE ELECTION.  
It's as though they have absolutely no contact with the world around them.

Oh, we all realize it's unlikely he'll win, but we do think he has a good chance of making an impact. There's a chance, albeit a VERY slim one that he'll win, but a lot of things will have to happen(which require some funding). We'll work towards the goal of victory, whether you like it or not. At the very least we hope for name recognition from this election.

[John Dibble]

Regarding the initial question, perhaps Libertarian in New Mexico?  I know they currently have 5% of the vote there, which actually is quite a lot.

And this is before the advertising campaign. I'm wondering what it will be afterwards.

[John Dibble]

Indiana might go Badnarik.  He's at 14% now, with 40% undecided.  Most likely it won't go 3rd party, but that's what they said about Jesse Ventura.

http://www.lp.org/lpnews/0409/gividen.html

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." - Mahatma Gandhi

The LP is now at the cusp of being actively fought against, peole don't laugh anymore.  Through it all, we have grown.  We are not a personality cult, we are not going away.

We're here, we're near - get used to it.

We have 602 libertarians in local offices,  That's more than all other 3rd parties put together.  We have had state rep office holders in the past, and we will again in the future (perhaps Florida this cycle)


http://www.politicalgateway.com/cand.php?id=40&page=cand

Tex - the gubentorial candidate(Gividen) is at 14%, not Badnarik(whose mother is running for lieutenant-govenor with Gividen). Still, looks promising for Gividen.

[John Dibble]

And for the libertarians...If you're really serious, move to New Hampshire and restart your crusade at the local level.

That's the idea behind the Free State Project.

Well, I have nothing against those who go to the FSP, but I'm not packing up and leaving - I'll preach libertarianism where I am thank you very much. I happen to like Georgia - it's nice here, and I'm not giving up on making it nicer.

[John Dibble]

Libertariansim is not the wave of the future, but is a far out, immoral way of governing.  A zero rules, anything goes type of society.  Ouite scary actually.

Ah, ignorance... zero rules is anarchy, not libertarianism. Libertarianism bases itself off of freedom to do what you like so long as it does not harm others or infringe upon their rights. How exactly is minding your own business immoral as a principle of government?