That’s the argument that Steven Maloney makes at the Libertarian Republican blog:
If you listen to Barack Obama (and Hillary Clinton) on the campaign trail, you hear some scary things. They portray “too many Americans’ as one step away from economic and social disaster. They see as people badly in need of major assistance – their assistance.
John McCain, imperfect as he may be, sees a very different America. It’s the same country whose liberties he was willing to give his life for in Viet Nam. We may not agree with him on every issue, but we can’t disagree that a love for liberty is at the central core of this man’s being.
Even Bill Clinton has said of McCain: “He’s given everything he has to his country – except his life.” President Clinton has never spoken truer words.
In contrast to McCain, Obama essentially portrays America as something resembling Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach,” where “ignorant armies clash by night.” As “Lexington describes Obama’s world-view, America is “a coalition of groups that define themselves as victims of social and economic forces, and . . . [where] its leaders encourage people to feel helpless and aggrieved . . .”
If Obama becomes President, we would become a society of “victims,” all of us clamoring for the government to bail us out of our misery. That would be a disaster not only for libertarians, but for all Americans.
I hope all libertarians do the right thing: voting for John McCain. Also, ask your friends and family members to do the same thing. The future of liberty in this society depends on free people standing up and supporting a man who has devoted his entire life to defending American values and liberties. John McCain is the right man for our cause.
But there’s another side of the story.
The election of John McCain as President would effectively destroy the Republican Party as an avenue to achieve any reduction in the size, scope, or power of the state.
Whatever he might be, it is fairly clear that John McCain is no libertarian. He was the chief sponsor of a law that eviscerated the First Amendment in a political campaign contest. He supported the Patriot Act. His one saving grave is that, unlike George W. Bush, he recognizes that torture is not a legitimate tool in the War on Terror.
Beyond that, though, there’s no reason to believe that a McCain Presidency would be any better than a George W. Bush Presidency. And no reason to believe that John McCain has any greater respect for civil liberties.
No, I’m not going to vote for John McCain. And I’m not going to urge anyone else to vote for him.
And I’m not going to vote for Barack Obama either.
My vote won’t change the election, but, unlike 2000 and 2004, at least I won’t have to spend four years rationalizing to myself why I voted for someone who stands for everything I disagree with.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I’m not going to hold my nose and vote for Barr, even it he’s the Libertarian Party candidate, so I’m certainly not voting for Obama (or Hillary). But what would be the best outcome in November? One that’s POSSILBE, that is? Would it be Obama in the White House, with a Republican Congress to keep him in check? Trust me, I have no love for the Repugnantcans, but it seems as if they do better when in Congress and not in the White House. I have a theory that I have yet to see anyone else expound upon, so maybe it’s crazy, but I think the leadership (not the candidates themselves) would prefer to LOSE the White House, because whoever wins the WH is going to have their hands full — much better, politically, to be the opposition.
April 16th, 2008 at 5:09 am
There is no way I want Obama in the White House. I don’t trust the man. For his sins McCain is fairly up-front about things. McCain is better than either Democrat. By whatever scale that is true. We argue about just how much better McCain is than the other two.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:28 am
“Half a loaf is better than none.”
McCain is the only realistic choice that Libertarians have. If traditionally libertarian minded people, like me, decide to opt-out of the next election, we will have to endure the misery of Osama-Obama or Billary.
It is funny how history is often influenced by timing. For example, if Al Gore was running now with Bill Richardson or even John Edwards, the Democrats would get a huge crossover vote from business-oriented Republicans. McCain wouldn’t stand a chance.
Instead, the looney wing of the socialist-democrat party, has given the voters the choice between commie, Obama and socialist, Billary. In spite of the media’s infatuation with these two, it is looking a lot like the Democrats are facing another Dukakis result in November.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:34 am
JTB,
Half a loaf is still half a loaf.
McCain has proven himself uncommitted to important principles of individual liberty, specifically those protected by the First Amendment.
Reason’s Matt Welch summed up the libertarian case against McCain quite well:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/opinion/26welch.html?ex=1364270400&en=7e1188fcbd705cd1&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink