Okay, Libertarians. Be Bolder than That, But Not Crazy
James Pethokoukis seems less than impressed with Libertarian candidate for President Bob Barr’s economic proposals. He says, in part,
…you would think [his] policy proposals would be bold ones with lots of details. Barr and Root are in the persuading business, not the victory business, for the moment, after all, so they need to fully display the power of their ideas.
Reading what he’s found thus far, I have to agree. It’s pretty thin stuff for a campaign that needs to take a few risks in order to get our attention. Then again, it’s quite possible that Barr and Root are starting from the assumption that they won’t have to fight all that hard to get the vote of the conservatives that John McCain has kicked to the curb. I don’t think that’s a wise assumption to make. A whole lot of conservatives (though I’m not one of them) are planning to take one in the rump for the team and vote for McCain anyhow. Still, if they’re going to make it, they’re goign to have to be fairly specific fairly quickly.
If the Libertarians want to grab an appreciable piece of the electoral pie, they’re going to need to come across with more than “simplify the tax system” and “spend less money”. I think there are some bold and reasonable proposals the Libertarian party can put forth that would make some noise in the next couple of three months. The “reasonable” part, by the way, is really important. Barr and Root can’t come out with stuff like putting us back on the gold standard or legalizing peyote or whatever niche issue they have shoved up their sleeves to mollify the folks they needed to bag the candidacy. They’re talking to normal average people here and the crazy Wavy Gravy stuff won’t fly.
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Category: Barr/Root '08!
