Friends or Foes?
Libertarians and Dean: A discussion going on around the web, with thoughts from Kos (click on the title):
Noho-missives:
and Eugene Volokh:
I've been espousing the libertarians and Dean connection for quite some time, and I felt it was time to clarify a bit what with all this discussion going on post-Santorum about who exactly Dean's campaign would take. Personally, I think Eugene is right. His style of Libertarians won't jump anytime soon, much to Kos's dismay. But there is another hope, and I point it out in my own bloggered post over at EzraK:
And there's more where that came from.
That's why I like Dean and Clark -- both are avowed supporters of the 2nd Amendment, and both can go far in helping capture the significant libertarian bloc from the grasp of the GOP.
Noho-missives:
Notwithstanding this entry's title, this reflects the Libertarian bent of The Conspirators more than anything, but I think it's indicative of the alignment of interests of the Libertarians and Democrats (especially Howard Dean). I know, I know, Libertarians hate the Democratic Party's tax policy, but I hope they don't allow this administration to pay them to shut up about civil liberties.
and Eugene Volokh:
I much appreciate the praise, but I think this misses a very basic point about Libertarians: We think that lower taxes and lighter economic regulation are matters of civil liberties. That -- plus other issues, such as gun rights -- are a big part of why the interests of the Libertarians and the Democrats are pretty far out of alignment, on some utterly fundamental matters.
I've been espousing the libertarians and Dean connection for quite some time, and I felt it was time to clarify a bit what with all this discussion going on post-Santorum about who exactly Dean's campaign would take. Personally, I think Eugene is right. His style of Libertarians won't jump anytime soon, much to Kos's dismay. But there is another hope, and I point it out in my own bloggered post over at EzraK:
The true strength of Dean (even more so than Clark) is his ability to tap into pseudo-libertarian ideas. Perhaps we can call this "Maher-Libertarianism" after Bill Maher, who voted for Ralph Nader, but who describes himself as a libertarian (which left the LP scrambling at one point). This strain of libertarian, conservative progressivism believes fundamentally in government taking its noses out of personal business, doesn't have a problem with fair taxation, wants local and state control rather than federal, believes in gun ownership, and wants the environment protected. And that describes a lot of people in the West, like almost every dedicated progressive I know.
And there's more where that came from.
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