This year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) reflected a Republican Party in mid-meltdown. The conference comes on the heels of Mitt Romney calling for a brokered party convention in order to stop the improbable rise of frontrunner Trump. The Donald retaliated by cancelling his highly anticipated appearance—much to the delight of rivals Cruz, Rubio, and the
#NeverTrump crowd, who attended in full force.
Libertarian-leaning conservatives made up a large portion of the
#NeverTrump-ers. But while they found it easy to oppose the tariff-loving, torture-advocating, wall-building billionaire, the tough question was whether there was anyone at all worth supporting.
Ted Cruz openly courts the libertarian vote. But does the Texas senator's tough stance on immigration kill any chance of libertarian support for his candidacy? Will libertarians hold their collective noses and support Marco Rubio, despite his seemingly boundless zeal for saber rattling? Is Kasich a viable lesser-of-all-the-evils candidate for the free market crowd?
Disaffected libertarians at CPAC considered the option of casting a ballot for the eventual Libertarian Party nominee—or not voting at all. What's inevitable: losing one's sense of humor about participating in yet another election year filled with lousy presidential candidates.
Runtime 3:39.
Produced by Todd Krainin. Hosted by Matt Welch. Cameras by Krainin and Joshua Swain.
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