Do both political parties have a libertarian streak?

I enjoyed this post on by Nick Gillespie:

LibertariansGillespie points out how the Democrat candidates for president agreed on several issues that could be deemed libertarian: “When it came to endless wars and constant buildup of defense spending, for instance, or the need to end awful criminal-justice policies, or to be more humane and welcoming to immigrants.” He contrasted these positions with the Republican candidates, which are very weak from a libertarian perspective.

However, Gillespie still cannot bring himself to vote for any of the Democrats because the “economic plans of everyone up there tonight ranged from terrible to truly awful.” He discusses how the Republicans were more libertarian on economic issues.

Gillespie is pleased that “each party is espousing an increasing number of positions that fit within a consistent libertarian approach to the role of government.”

I certainly appreciate Gillespie’s viewpoint and continue to believe that if a libertarian leaning candidate could ever emerge from the Democrat or Republican presidential primaries, he or she would be unbeatable in the general election. However, with the frustrating status quo of American politics being left-wing voters dominating Democrat primaries and right-wing voters dominating Republican primaries, we don’t appear too close to electing a libertarian president any time soon.

Jim Maisano

(Jim serves as a Westchester County Legislator).

One thought on “Do both political parties have a libertarian streak?

  1. The coming collapse of the welfare/warfare state, mired as it is in 19 trillion in unsustainable debt, may ultimately change that.


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