IRV for Libertarian Presidential Candidates

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

[1] Ron Paul: No single person has been such a powerful force for electorally advancing libertarianism and bringing into the “mainstream.” In fifty years or so, Paul will be remembered as the man single handedly responsible for transforming the Republican Party in the same way that Barry Goldwater is responsible for creating the groundworks for the Reagan style conservatism that the GOP until 2016 has embraced year after year.

[2] Gary Johnson: As for the Libertarian Party itself, Johnson, in particular his 2012 campaign, lent badly needed legitimacy to the party. That has been tarnished this year, not by Johnson (though his selection of Weld aggravated a bad situation) but by the committed party activists. Many of these people would prefer the party to be a private club than a political party, and that is why I personally registered with the GOP.

[3] Ed Clark: Most successful candidate in terms of percentage of the vote, though I think that if Libertarian activists had a problem with Johnson, they should’ve hated him considering he promoted the party’s ideology as “low tax” liberalism.

[4] John Hospers: His letters between Ayn Rand and himself are incredibly interesting and should be used more frequently in explaining that Objectivism is fundamentally not libertarianism, unless if you happen to be a snarky Atlas red avatar dick who doesn’t have any actual interest in learning the difference. Plus, he remains the only Libertarian to, you know, get an actual electoral vote…..

[5] Roger MacBride: He would have made an amazing Governor of Vermont had he won the 1964 GOP primary. He could have been Ron Paul before there was a Ron Paul, but alas, that faded away. Still, his decision to ditch Nixon/Agnew to vote for Hospers/Nathan thrusted a political party that was as relevant in 1972 as the Reform Party was in 2012 to suddenly become the nation’s biggest alternative party.

[6] Harry Browne: As a person, Browne ranks much higher than he does as a candidate. His candidacy was complicated by the engrained pettiness and purity of the Libertarian Party that snubbed him (the AZ party even nominated a separate candidate) and tore itself into numerous factions. Reading up on the internal struggles and near stagnation of the Libertarian Party post 1988, I’m amazed it lasted.

[7] David Bergland: A committed party activist and a decent placeholder. I don’t know much about him, besides seeing him appear at the 2012 convention on C-SPAN (a quick search showed that his only appearance on the network, active long before he ran for President, was indeed at that convention).

[8] Michael Badnarik: A complete weirdo. I don’t see how the party nominated him over their literal founder David Nolan at the 2004 convention. Besides Bergland, he’s probably the most boring nominee.

[9] Andre Marrou: Total scumbag from what I’ve read. The Wikipedia article alone paints him as a deadbeat dad, and I suspect that the words from older, active Libertarians will say even worse.

[10] Bob Barr: If I were a Libertarian, I’d usually support pragmatism over purity, but as Barr’s campaign and post 2008 activities show, he’s an asshat. Remember in 2008 when Ron Paul endorsed Barr, Baldwin, McKinney, and Nader? Barr refused to even show up at the last minute (delaying Paul’s televised speech-a rarity for him considering the media blackout in 2008 and to a lesser extent in 2012) and then angrily demanded that Paul solely endorse one candidate as it “hurt” the Libertarian movement. Paul, insulted by the pro-Iraq, pro-Patriot Act, philandering douche, promptly followed the unsolicited advice. He endorsed Chuck Baldwin, who I also would have voted for in that election.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Which are from the more pragmatic wing? I know Bob Barr freaked out my mother once on a plane and is a well known psychopath.

The members of Molly Hatchet once sexually harassed my mom on a plane....anywho, dish dish dish! I love to hate Bob Barr, and I could use a new reason.