Shawn, fair enough if we're talking about
things from a philosophical, rather than purely political
perspective. I agree that Republicans can use a healthy dose of
anti-statism. With that said, it's worth adding that there's a lot
libertarians could do to gain more influence within the Republican
Party. The reality is that politicians are primarily interested in
winning elections, and the only way to gain influence is to
convince them that you can help them win. Religious conservatives
weren't always a major part of the party, but once they proved
themselves a dependable voting bloc, willing to volunteer and
turnout on Election Day, they won a seat at the table. Sure, they
haven't gotten much of what they wanted, but they are surely better
off than they would have been had they sat on their hands for the
past several decades (if nothing else, look at Scalia, Thomas,
Alito, Roberts). In contrast, libertarians tend to be a cynical
bunch not likely to get involved in the cheesy elements of
bumper-sticker politics that dominate elections. They often brag
about not voting or hold out hope for gridlock, which, at best,
moderately restrains the rate of growth of government spending. As
John pointed out, there are a lot of splits within libertarianism,
so it's hard to think of them as a clear voting bloc. All of these
are totally understandable reactions to contemporary politics and
the statist Republican Party, but the real world result of this is
that libertarians have not proven themselves a potentially active,
loyal, voting bloc capable of swinging close elections. Therefore,
a vicious circle ensues in which Republicans don't try to appeal to
libertarians, and libertarians become more disaffected. Taking a
more fatalistic view, I could see libertarians regaining influence
once the looming entitlement crisis actually materializes. Just as
neo-cons held more sway after 9/11 because they had a ready made
philosophy well-tailored for the terrorist threat, libertarians are
best-positioned to offer solutions to the entitlements
mess.
topics:
Entitlements, Libertarianism
