HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

What's Next for the Libertarian Party After Jo Jorgensen Got 1%?

Views:961
@ReasonVids

What went right and wrong in 2020, the L.P.’s internal divisions, and the party’s strategy for the future.
------------------
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ReasonTV?sub...

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magaz...
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.
----------------
The 2020 presidential election gave libertarian voters few good options: A serially dishonest and incompetent leader who bungled the COVID-19 pandemic and imposed trade and immigration restrictions versus someone who promised $11 trillion in new spending, who played a role in many of the greatest policy failures of the last 30 years, such as the Iraq War, the PATRIOT Act, and the expansion of the drug war.

And then there was the Libertarian Party (L.P.). After nominating a pair of popular former governors to run in 2016 who pulled just over 3 percent of the popular vote, the party backed Jo Jorgensen, a Clemson University psychology lecturer who was featured on the L.P. ticket in the 1990s but remains largely unknown outside of libertarian circles. She drew just over 1 percent.

So is the party still a worthwhile project?

Reason spoke to several party insiders about what they think went right and wrong in 2020, the L.P.'s internal divisions, and the party's strategy for the future.

"You had something in the Jorgensen-Cohen ticket that appealed to anybody, no matter where you were in the party," says Alex Merced, the L.P.'s former vice chair.

He thinks that even though Jorgensen fell short of 2016 L.P. presidential candidate Gary Johnson's vote share, the unifying effect it had among libertarians was positive for the movement.

"I think that when you try to water down your messaging to appeal to everyone, you sort of appeal to no one," says Angela McArdle, who is chair of the Los Angeles Libertarian Party and who plans to run for chair of the national party in 2022.

She's affiliated with the Mises Caucus, which believes libertarians have been far too willing to compromise their principles and water down their rhetoric to make alliances with the political left or right. They reject the "need to make Faustian bargains" in the interest of gaining mainstream acceptance.

The L.P. does currently hold more than 200 elected seats, mostly local positions like treasurer, city council member, school board member, or small-town mayor, according to its website. The most powerful members of the party holding office are Jeff Hewitt, Riverside County supervisor, who ran in a nonpartisan race, and Rep. Justin Amash (L–Mich.), who wasn't elected as a Libertarian but switched party affiliations. But Amash opted not to run for reelection in 2020.

Current L.P. Chair Joe Bishop-Henchman agrees with McArdle that electoral success begins at the local level.

"Just imagine how different the national political discussion would be if there was a caucus of…eight or 10 or 12 Libertarian senators who could really be significantly changing what's happening in Washington, D.C.," says Bishop-Henchman. "So how do you get to that? Well, we've got to elect more Libertarian House members…build up a deep bench of elected officials at the state and local level."

He says that while Jorgensen did worse than Johnson in 2016, the party has grown its registration roll significantly, which is now at a record 650,000 members.

"It's time that we get out of startup mode, and that we prove that we can do it," says Bishop-Henchman.

CORRECTION: The video mistakenly identifies the Lions of Liberty podcast, "Should The Libertarian Party Be Abolished?" as episode 408. It's actually episode 480.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller.

Photo credits: K.C. Alfred/TNS/Newscom; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Paul Hennessy / SOPA Images/Sipa/Newscom.

Music credits: Muted.

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
libertarian party
,
jo jorgensen
,
gary johnson
,
ron paul
,
mises caucus
,
austin petersen
,
joe bishop henchman
,
angela mcardle
    Thumbnail for Joe Biden's $11 Trillion Plan to Bankrupt America4:17
    Joe Biden's $11 Trillion Plan to Bankrupt America
    ReasonVids
    913 views
    Thumbnail for  They Killed JFK For Saying This.0:57
    They Killed JFK For Saying This.
    AOU
    1296 views
    Thumbnail for The Menu: Life Without the Opposite Sex | Buy This Book!6:22
    The Menu: Life Without the Opposite Sex | Buy This Book!
    Terrence Popp
    767 views
    Thumbnail for George Will vs. 1619 Project: The U.S. Founding Is ‘the Best Thing That Ever Happened'1:08:21
    George Will vs. 1619 Project: The U.S. Founding Is ‘the Best Thing That Ever Happened'
    ReasonVids
    870 views
    Thumbnail for The Plan to Create a Giant, Privately Funded Nature Reserve by Selling Beef5:33
    The Plan to Create a Giant, Privately Funded Nature Reserve by Selling Beef
    ReasonVids
    936 views
    Thumbnail for Rihanna, Avicii, Justin Bieber, Kygo, Selena Gomez, Alok, Bastille, David Guetta - Summer Nostalgia1:00
    Rihanna, Avicii, Justin Bieber, Kygo, Selena Gomez, Alok, Bastille, David Guetta - Summer Nostalgia
    invidious
    321 views
    Thumbnail for Remy: NoMargaritasville (Jimmy Buffett Parody)1:52
    Remy: NoMargaritasville (Jimmy Buffett Parody)
    ReasonVids
    905 views
    Thumbnail for Stories From the Aircraft Boneyard | Live From The Lair22:28
    Stories From the Aircraft Boneyard | Live From The Lair
    Terrence Popp
    376 views
    Thumbnail for 4 Steps to Get Your Kids Packing Their Own Lunches | POPSUGAR Family1:32
    4 Steps to Get Your Kids Packing Their Own Lunches | POPSUGAR Family
    invidious
    229 views
    Thumbnail for FUCK NIGGA BIX NOOD MUH DICK. ON THE GROUND ON THE GROUND0:32
    FUCK NIGGA BIX NOOD MUH DICK. ON THE GROUND ON THE GROUND
    voatcatbox
    540 views
    Thumbnail for Asian woman admits she wants to commit the white genocide0:51
    Asian woman admits she wants to commit the white genocide
    bestofvoatxyz
    756 views
    Thumbnail for Ferguson Protesters React to Michael Brown Robbery Footage2:49
    Ferguson Protesters React to Michael Brown Robbery Footage
    ReasonVids
    848 views
    Thumbnail for Israelis: Do you see non Jews as equal to you?9:17
    Israelis: Do you see non Jews as equal to you?
    AOU
    1553 views
    Thumbnail for Can Science Reverse Aging?8:05
    Can Science Reverse Aging?
    ReasonVids
    795 views
    Thumbnail for David Boaz: Americans Won't Tolerate a War with Syria10:03
    David Boaz: Americans Won't Tolerate a War with Syria
    ReasonVids
    900 views
    Thumbnail for Rand Paul on Blocking the Patriot Act, GOP Hawks, and Edward Snowden14:41
    Rand Paul on Blocking the Patriot Act, GOP Hawks, and Edward Snowden
    ReasonVids
    843 views
    Thumbnail for Do we have more to fear from an unrestrained majority or narrow special interests?2:29
    Do we have more to fear from an unrestrained majority or narrow special interests?
    ReasonVids
    884 views
    Thumbnail for Libertarian James Bond4:49
    Libertarian James Bond
    ReasonVids
    873 views
    Thumbnail for The Dirty Pictures That Revolutionized Art1:18:03
    The Dirty Pictures That Revolutionized Art
    ReasonVids
    824 views
    Thumbnail for Deletionpedia - rescuing articles from Wikipedia's deletionism [interactive]1:00
    Deletionpedia - rescuing articles from Wikipedia's deletionism [interactive]
    bestofsaidit
    984 views
    Thumbnail for Uhg, your car is done, GODDDDDDUH! 0:22
    Uhg, your car is done, GODDDDDDUH!
    bestofupgoat
    112 views
    Thumbnail for Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek on the New Orleans School Choice Revolution8:30
    Louisiana Superintendent of Education Paul Pastorek on the New Orleans School Choice Revolution
    ReasonVids
    864 views
    Thumbnail for Wii Bowling Be Like… | BowlersMart0:44
    Wii Bowling Be Like… | BowlersMart
    invidious
    324 views
    Thumbnail for Can the Republican Party Survive Trump?11:40
    Can the Republican Party Survive Trump?
    ReasonVids
    994 views
    Thumbnail for The Battle For Brooklyn: Eminent Domain Abuse Gone Wild4:40
    The Battle For Brooklyn: Eminent Domain Abuse Gone Wild
    ReasonVids
    835 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
libertarian party
,
jo jorgensen
,
gary johnson
,
ron paul
,
mises caucus
,
austin petersen
,
joe bishop henchman
,
angela mcardle
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle