People Can't Change?
There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding Bob Barr and Wayne Root's political ticket for the Libertarian Party. Most people seem to hang on Bob Barr's past political voting record while a Republican in Congress. I can't help but to feel saddened by the complete lack of common sense that these people are using. Apparently people are incapable of changing. That must mean I'm still a moral crusading conservative.
The absurdity of these claims against Barr is astounding. It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to see why someone would change their political views so quickly in the wake of the Republican party sinking into neoconservatism. It doesn't surprise me one bit that Barr has left the Republican Party and has taken up the principles of libertarianism. I was not unlike Barr just two years ago. I was a neoconservative in my own right, but then it just took a few subjects to quickly change my view on the insane ideology that the Republican Party seems to be embracing. Once I left the Republican Party, my views starting to fall into place, and now I am a minarchist. I'm not the only person to do this that I know of. An online buddy of mine has done the same in leaving the Republican Party for the Libertarian Party. It doesn't take the stretch of the imagination to figure that Mr. Barr could very well have done the same.
What brings me to write this is Christine Smith's (and countless others') attack on Bob Barr's previous voting record while a Republican. I believe we should all hold people accountable for their pasts, but we cannot continue to make assumptions about them simply because of it. Again, I would still be looked at as a moral crusading conservative, but that's just as about as far from the truth as one could get. I would dare people to try to claim that I am not a libertarian. Besides my pro-life stance, there is not a single issue that I wouldn't side with the majority of libertarians on. I do subscribe to the minarchist school of thought, and claiming that I am not a libertarian is a baseless claim. While Barr is a bit more conservative than I am, he still cannot be discounted as a libertarian simply because of his previous voting record.
Christine Smith, a libertarian presidential candidate for 2008, has decided to leave the Libertarian Party because of the Libertarian Party's "abandoning" of libertarian principles. I say that we don't need people like her in the party that is going to suddenly abandon it because the party chooses a more mainstream candidate that is more capable of getting votes. Yes, we lose some of the hard-line libertarian principles, but Barr still upholds the basic libertarian principles that would help create a smaller government. Most Americans doesn't want a radical change, but they do want a change.
Smith goes on to claim, "No true libertarian would support (or defend) the selection of Bob Barr." I find that insulting. As I said above, I would dare someone to claim that I am not a libertarian, yet here I am supporting Bob Barr. This comment, obviously, does not sit well with me. The claim that I can't possibly be a true libertarian because I support a candidate that she dislikes is a moronic thing to suggest. Smith seems intelligent, so I cannot imagine that this usage of ad hominem is typical of her, and it certainly isn't appreciated.
Perhaps my favorite paragraph that she writes is the following:
The libertarian principles which made this this the party for me have been abandoned. The party has become an end in itself, but I believe the cause of liberty trumps any party. Barr's campaign will certainly attract more interventionists, more anti-immigration and more anti-freedom conservatives like himself to the LP, so the delegates may get their growth (and perhaps increased vote counts in November) they so eagerly seek, but the cost is that true libertarians now have no political home since the LP chose as its standard bearer a man who is the antithesis of libertarianism. No matter how the LP delegates and Libertarians who supported this may rationalize it to themselves, they sold out their libertarian principles.
I did not sell out my libertarian principles. I allowed them to be stretched a little to provide the LP with a candidate that can support libertarian ideologies, but also bring in disgruntled conservative voters. Barr is the candidate that can help to fuel the revolution that Ron Paul has created and bring liberty back to Americans. While the liberty that most libertarians desire won't be given to us immediately, it's a certain step in the right direction.
Ultimately, I think this whole issue comes down to the fact that Christine Smith doesn't like Bob Barr. She is too hung up on his previous voting record to see what changes he has made to his ideals and what good can come of his candidacy. She conveniently ignores the concept that people change and opts to use ad hominem towards Barr's supporters. Instead of attacking the reasons as to why someone like me may support Barr, she just decides to insult us instead by claiming that we're not true libertarians and that we have sold out our libertarian principles. Even if the LP is wrong in choosing Barr as their candidate, they did one thing right by not choosing her as the candidate.