The LP had their shot at going mainstream and blew it. The US had two of the least popular candidates in modern political history going against each other and they didn't make much of a dent besides (debatably) playing spoiler. It is unfortunately that the system for third party candidates is impossible to beat in its current form, but nevertheless the LP still had the most electable presidential ticket in their history (in terms of prior experience as well as their stance on the issues compared with past candidates and others within the LP) yet still finished well below the 5% threshold for federal funds.

If I was the LP, I'd take a hard look at this cycle and see that running for president is a fool's errand; wrong as it may be, we live in a political framework designed for two-parties, and they'll do anything they can to hold onto power. The LP should concentrate their future efforts on local and state-level offices imo, but I'm guessing they'll keep trying for president and nominate more of a 'true' libertarian in the mold of Austin Petersen going forward. The only hope of the US shifting towards a libertarian-leaning government lies in the likes of Paul and Amash basically taking over the GOP from the inside, and I'll be rooting for that to happen. But that wasn't happening anytime soon even if Clinton won, let alone now that Trump has.

With Trump as the new flag bearer of a new GOP, the Libertarian Party would be ABSOLUTELY CRAZY if they didn't push economics HARD as a message. Right now you have the two major parties dominated by socialistic populism and protectionist populism. There is a total vacuum for REAL economics out there right now.

Libertarian party in its current form, may be dying. They had a real chance this time to get a good minority of the vote but fell flat.

I like the party platform, but Johnson was the wrong person to be selected for the nominee.

What was their vote % end up at?

(11-09-2016 07:33 PM)john01992 Wrote:  What was their vote % end up at?

Looks like they got 3%

Think Reform Party....That is where the Libertarian party goes.

If the two major parties begin to nominate more hardliners as their party faithful will likely demand then the libertarians needs to be prepared to fight for the middle.

While they did not get 5% they did obtain at least 2% in all States and DC except Mississippi. In NC if you get 2% to get ballot access guaranted until the end of the next presidential election. I know each state is different but I would imagine the libertarians will start this next 4 years with guaranteed ballot access virtually everywhere. They need to be prepared for the midterms and find 1 to 2 Senate seats and stake their claim they are not going away

The LP made much better showings in some Indiana state races yesterday - getting an infrastructure in place at the state level will allow them to make real changes.


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note7 using Tapatalk. Hey, do you smell anything burning?

(11-09-2016 07:50 PM)solohawks Wrote:  If the two major parties begin to nominate more hardliners as their party faithful will likely demand then the libertarians needs to be prepared to fight for the middle.

While they did not get 5% they did obtain at least 2% in all States and DC except Mississippi. In NC if you get 2% to get ballot access guaranted until the end of the next presidential election. I know each state is different but I would imagine the libertarians will start this next 4 years with guaranteed ballot access virtually everywhere. They need to be prepared for the midterms and find 1 to 2 Senate seats and stake their claim they are not going away

The problem is that the Libertarians are not in the middle. They are to the right of the Republicans and the left of the Democrats.

(11-09-2016 08:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 07:50 PM)solohawks Wrote:  If the two major parties begin to nominate more hardliners as their party faithful will likely demand then the libertarians needs to be prepared to fight for the middle.

While they did not get 5% they did obtain at least 2% in all States and DC except Mississippi. In NC if you get 2% to get ballot access guaranted until the end of the next presidential election. I know each state is different but I would imagine the libertarians will start this next 4 years with guaranteed ballot access virtually everywhere. They need to be prepared for the midterms and find 1 to 2 Senate seats and stake their claim they are not going away

The problem is that the Libertarians are not in the middle. They are to the right of the Republicans and the left of the Democrats.

Johnson tried to market himself as socaily liberal and fiscally conservative. He was a horrible messenger but I do think that is a good position to be in. Most young people want our nation to be better with the budget yet they do not like the culture wars the GOP has stoked for 30 years.

Find at least one state where you can make a push for a midterm Senate seat and go all in on it. Set the tone for 2020

They would absorb into Rand Paul's wing of the GOP if they had any sense.

(11-09-2016 08:08 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(11-09-2016 07:50 PM)solohawks Wrote:  If the two major parties begin to nominate more hardliners as their party faithful will likely demand then the libertarians needs to be prepared to fight for the middle.

While they did not get 5% they did obtain at least 2% in all States and DC except Mississippi. In NC if you get 2% to get ballot access guaranted until the end of the next presidential election. I know each state is different but I would imagine the libertarians will start this next 4 years with guaranteed ballot access virtually everywhere. They need to be prepared for the midterms and find 1 to 2 Senate seats and stake their claim they are not going away

The problem is that the Libertarians are not in the middle. They are to the right of the Republicans and the left of the Democrats.

The spectrum ain't just left and right.

(11-09-2016 08:36 PM)Kronke Wrote:  They would absorb into Rand Paul's wing of the GOP if they had any sense.

I wish Rand Paul would grab some people like Kasich and go libertarian. Republican party is about to go to the youth.

(11-09-2016 08:36 PM)Kronke Wrote:  They would absorb into Rand Paul's wing of the GOP if they had any sense.

Nearly all Libertarians I know vote in every Republican primary to true to yield more Republicans like Paul. But if we don't get our way in the primary, we certainly don't feel obliged to stick around. Even the LP itself does some quiet coordination along these lines. The LP of SC said outright they would not run anybody against Jim DeMint, even though they disagree with nearly ALL of his social views. But since DeMint was a real, actual, honest-to-goodness cutter of government, the LP looked the other way to keep one of the FEW fiscally responsible people elected.

LP can grow if the Republicans let the inmates continue nominating fellow loons. I gave 'em my vote for the first time.

The LP is toast...it will become more fringe and the loonies and comic con guys will become more the norm.

The GOP is now toast too in all but name. There is no longer a Conservative party. It's now the party of enough is enough. It's going to trend more toward libertarian principles on several issues the next 4 years.

(11-09-2016 07:31 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  With Trump as the new flag bearer of a new GOP, the Libertarian Party would be ABSOLUTELY CRAZY if they didn't push economics HARD as a message. Right now you have the two major parties dominated by socialistic populism and protectionist populism. There is a total vacuum for REAL economics out there right now.

How does the LP get their message across to the general public? Reason-reading people like us would listen loud and clear, but preaching to a small choir doesn't do much in an echo chamber. It's impossible to know where our nation will be in 2020, but unless the election is Trump vs. Warren (or something similar), the LP nominates a likable and experienced candidate with elite campaigning skills, and the LP gets real financial backing from libertarian-leaning billionaires, it'll still be a struggle to make much of a drop in a presidential race with all the institutional challenges from the two parties, even if you have Milton Friedman reincarnated developing an airtight economic message.

If a political party like the Libertarian party want to actually make some head way. Then they need to focus on an state or area of the country.

If I was the Libertarian party. I would focus on the Dakotas. I would put as much support that I could into those states.

(11-09-2016 09:50 PM)hawghiggs Wrote:  If a political party like the Libertarian party want to actually make some head way. Then they need to focus on an state or area of the country.

If I was the Libertarian party. I would focus on the Dakotas. I would put as much support that I could into those states.

This past election is going to help them with getting into more state races with guarantees to at least be on the ballot.

Away hopefully...

(11-09-2016 10:10 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  Away hopefully...

You wouldn't want us as the secondary party at some point? Agreeing economically just different methods would be way more productive compared to what the democrats do.