Why Libertarians for Obama?
As we prepare to enter the post-Bush era, libertarians like myself have been asking themselves what, if anything, can be done to reverse, roll-back, and prevent the re-occurrence of the horrendous record of the Bush administration.
The Republican Party, as a whole, deservedly has the albatross of the Iraq War hanging around its neck. The Republican Party, as a whole, has been responsible for profligate deficit spending that threatens to ruin our economy. The Republican Party, as a whole, has left the Constitution in tatters as it wears the flag as a cape.
I believe that only the record and rhetoric of Barack Obama presents libertarians with a real option for change.
What is at stake in this election is civil liberties. And Obama has the best, most consistent, and most trustworthy record on those issues of any electable candidate running. I am a particular fan of his government-transparency measures, like his Illinois legislation requiring that all police interrogations be videotaped. It isn’t enough to merely advocate for civil liberties; we need concrete provisions to protect them, with real teeth, and Obama’s got the best record of any serious candidate. I have confidence that an Obama presidency will save habeas corpus, and close Guantanamo. I have confidence that an Obama presidency will bring a humble foreign policy that does not seek to send Americans on pointless foreign adventures. I have no such confidence with any other electable candidate.
But before Obama can become the next President of the United States, he must first be nominated as the candidate for the Democratic Party. As primary season continues, those of you who are able must come out and support Obama in the polls: we need him now.
You’re nuts.
He wants to subsidize college.
He wants to expand government schooling.
He’s against free trade and for smart trade.
He wants to use the government to subsidize the telecommunications industry even more than it already is.
He wants the government to bail out the subprimers.
He wants to increase the minimum wage, even though all economics agree this hurts the lower-class.
He wants to expand the health care mess instead of reforming it.
And so on, and so on, and so on. The guy isn’t even remotely Libertarian, let alone libertarian. He’s a liberal, plain and simply.
Comment by Anonymoose — February 2, 2008 @ 12:32 am
I’m not claiming he’s a libertarian. I’m claiming that even for his faults, he is, by far, the best choice for libertarians who want their vote to go to someone who stands a chance of being elected. Insofar as libertarianism stands for laissez-faire government policy in regards to the market, no electable candidate is offering that. It is time to understand that if market interference is an absolute bar to your support, then there’s nobody left to support. If you want the best candidate, Obama is it.
Comment by William — February 2, 2008 @ 8:57 am
Again, you’re nuts. His policies will continue to move this country backwards. I vote for a lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.
Comment by Anonymoose — February 2, 2008 @ 6:04 pm
As I’ll detail in later posts, I think that Obama is not only the lesser of all evils, but he’s actually good. There’s more to libertarianism than economics - although some of his policies are either a step forward or defusing current trends towards strongly anti-libertarian ends.
Comment by William — February 2, 2008 @ 7:38 pm
Interesting. Keep up the good work.
Comment by spieluc — February 3, 2008 @ 9:09 am
What do you suggest we do then, Anonymoose? Waste our vote on someone who isn’t going to come close to winning? Vote for someone else like Huckabee, the religious nut? I like my separation of church and state, thank you.
William makes a good case. I know it might hurt your delicate little feelings to vote for somebody other than Paul, but you have to face reality and vote for someone we can rely on to not completely fuck our country over and turn it into a 9/11 themed military amusement park.
Comment by Gosling — February 3, 2008 @ 1:45 pm
Libertarians for Obama - Why Libertarians for Obama? | Deliggit.com…
libertariansforobama.org
An argument to libertarians as to why Obama is the best candidate runnin…
Trackback by Deliggit.com | The social sites' most interesting urls — February 4, 2008 @ 10:15 am
Gosling, the only way real change will ever come about is if you vote for who you truly want, regardless of electibility.
Voting for Obama is taking three steps back to take one step forward. He’s a standard cut-out liberal who knows how to speak well, America’s motivational speaker.
Comment by Anonymoose — February 5, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
Three steps back and one step forward is infinitely better than seven steps back, then for good measure, calling you a terrorist for doing it while videotaping the entire thing through hidden CCTVs.
Spit in one hand and want in the other, see which gets full first. If you want to go down with the ship, by all means go for it, but some of us would like to put forth a little damage control and at least try to make things a little less horrible than they could be.
Comment by Gosling — February 5, 2008 @ 7:22 pm
Thanks for creating this site, William.
None of the candidates with a realistic chance of winning can be described as libertarian, but Obama looks like the best choice.
Regarding position on free markets, have a look at this link.
http://volokh.com/posts/1202297113.shtml
Comment by musefree — February 6, 2008 @ 6:04 pm
Des libertariens pour Obama?…
Les primaires en vue des élections présidentielles américaines ont cette année une résonance médiatique considérable. Les sommes dépensées par les candidats n’ont jamais été aussi élevées et la participation aux primaires atteint des…
Trackback by En Toute Liberté: blog de Guillaume Varès — February 7, 2008 @ 2:39 am
My Endorsement as a German Libertarian:
http://dominikhennig.blogspot.com/2008/01/america-needs-change.html
Comment by DDH — February 7, 2008 @ 8:42 am
America’s failed imperialism in Iraq has proven that America’s militaristic approach to international relations is neither in our planet’s interest nor in the interest of America.
We all know what has come out of the Irag invasion — decreased international security, increased oil prices, decreased respect for America and its underlying values, increased government spending, decreased economic development, and increased human suffering.
However, we will never reduce the size of the US military budget and the use of military options until we have leadership which engages constructively with the international community and considers the real human consequences of America’s reckless militarism.
Clearly libertarians or libertarian-leaning citizens need to support Obama as the best candidate for promoting peaceful — and dare I say ‘liberal’? — approaches to the many serious problems facing our planet.
Comment by Francis Vorhies — February 12, 2008 @ 2:11 am