Dave Weigel, an associate editor of Reason magazine, has recently penned a fantastic article on the Libertarian Party and the potential it has with nominee Bob Barr at the top of the ticket.
The highlight of the article was the focus on the success of the Libertarian message in transforming Barr, who once was the target of Libertarians, into its presidential nominee. "After hoping for so long to win prominent converts to the cause," writes Weigel, "the Libertarian Party finally had managed to do it."
The article is replete with inner-party politing and an extremely detailed analysis of Barr’s rise to the top of the ticket. The article also touches on the failure of the Party to gain more than 500,000 votes with a series of Party stalwarts, and the challenge of reformers to live up to the expectations set this year with Barr’s nomination.
The challenge for Barr and the reformers is to deliver on their promises: to score a record vote total, to grow the party’s membership, and to force the two big parties to pay attention. They need to prove that libertarians can do more than form a protest bloc in the GOP or think-tank their way into the mainstream of politics and policy. If they pull that off, the Libertarian Party could reach unprecedented heights.
I encourage you to check out the article here.
