A New Libertarian Party?

Very interesting news came in this week from the Libertarian Party, where a caucus of "moderate" libertarians took over at the party conference this week, ousting the party's long-standing rather extremist leadership. As a moderate libertarian myself, this can only be good news; as it is the Libertarian Party has always attracted candidates who exist on the far fringe of political life and turn off the average voter.

I've reported a few times that there are rumblings that 2008 may be a golden opportunity for third party or major independent candidates in a number of big races, not least the presidency. Perhaps the Libertarian Party is trying to take advantage of that opportunity.

Here's a quote from the Libertarian Reform Caucus' website:

Fringe politics does not work in the United States. A political party must appeal to a plurality of voters (effectively, at least 40%) in some districts in order to win elections .. In other words, for the Libertarian Party to be effective, it must appeal to the top 20-30% of freedom-lovers. Appealing to the tiny minority of freedom-lovers who want no government at all, or something very close to that, is a recipe for failure. The platform and message of the Libertarian Party is extreme, sacrificing practicality and political appeal in favor of philosophical consistency with a single axiom. As such, the party currently appeals only to a tiny fraction of the voting public ... We, the members of the Libertarian Reform Caucus believe that America needs a real libertarian party, a party that promotes liberty while being conscious of political reality, a party designed to win elections and begin rolling back excess government now. In particular, the party needs: A platform that proposes a realistic vision for the next few years, as opposed to an idealistic vision of a libertarian future ... A platform based on the realization that there are other important values in addition to the non-initiation of force. Freedom is extremely valuable, but it is not the only value.

The website appears rather out of date. More recent news came in yesterday from Politics 1, which notes that the reformers managed to take hold of the convention, throw out most of the old party platform, and in the process piss off and drive away the fringe. Read Ron Gunzberger's article at Politics1 for more; this could be a very interesting development.