The Colorado L.P. and Republican-Lite
I am a libertarian candidate for the Libertarian Party’s 2024 presidential nomination. My campaign website is jacobforliberty.com.
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The Colorado Libertarian Party hierarchy recently cut a deal with the Colorado Republican Party in which the Colorado L.P. agreed to refrain from running L.P. candidates against liberty-leaning Republicans in close races between Republicans and Democrats. For a detailed exposition of the facts and controversy surrounding the deal, see Jake Porter’s Substack article “Libertarian Party of Colorado Coordinates With Colorado GOP.”
As I have emphasized for the past three years, the core problem confronting the Libertarian Party is not an administrative or managerial one. Instead, it is a philosophical one. For some two decades, the Party has gradually moved away from its brand of principled libertarianism toward the embrace of conservative welfare-warfare state reform and Republican-Lite. Thus, it’s not surprising that the Libertarian Party is now oftentimes described as a “rightwing” political party.
The agreement between the Colorado Libertarian Party hierarchy and the Colorado Republican Party perfectly reflects this phenomenon.
Last fall, I published a series of articles on Substack in which I stated that if the “Reno Reset” resulted simply in a change of management, it would all be for naught. It was essential, I argued, that the Libertarian Party primarily focus its efforts on restoring the Libertarian brand of principled libertarianism and restoring the Libertarian Party as the Party of Principle in the political arena. That’s not only the right thing to do, I argued, it’s also the key to breaking out of the standard 1-3 percent of the national vote in the presidential election and breaking into the 7-10 percent or higher range.
The Republican Party is just as responsible for the destruction of our liberty and national well-being as the Democrat Party. This is true with respect to both domestic and foreign policy. Moreover, let’s not forget that it is these people — Republicans and Democrats alike — who are the ones who have erected the enormously high ballot-access barriers all across the country that suck out much of our limited resources in the Libertarian Party, leaving us with a pittance to run our campaigns.
Thus, I don’t view the Republican Party as our ally, friend, partner, or collaborator. I view the Republican Party the same way I view the Democrat Party — as our enemy — and as the enemy of liberty, peace, prosperity, and harmony with the people of the world.
Thus, as far as I am concerned, I have no interest in playing nice with these people. Instead, I want to fight them — and fight them as a Libertarian rather than as a Republican-Lite Libertarian. That’s precisely what I have been doing on my campaign website at jacobforliberty.com since last February, when I announced my candidacy for the 2024 Libertarian Party nomination, and it is what I will continue to do through the national nominating convention next May and, hopefully, beyond.
National presidential debates?
For some 25 years, I’ve heard that if only a Libertarian presidential candidate were to get into the presidential debates, he or she would get more than the standard 1-3 percent of the national vote. But how is that possible when a Republican-Lite Libertarian Party presidential candidate holds the same views as a Liberty-Leaning Republican presidential candidate?
Here is how such a “debate” would unfold:
Debate Moderator: What is your position on immigration?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Secure the border.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Social Security?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Save and reform it.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Medicare?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it by adopting health-savings accounts.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Covid mandates and lockdowns?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: End them and put Liberty-Leaning Republicans in charge of healthcare agencies.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Education?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it by adopting school vouchers.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Monetary Policy?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Regulation?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it and put Liberty-Leaning Republicans in charge of regulatory agencies.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Drug laws?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform them.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Income taxation?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Simplify it.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Foreign policy?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Intervene only when it is in our “national interest.”
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
The war on terrorism?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
Foreign aid?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Yes, but only when it is in our “national interest.”
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
The national-security establishment?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Maintain or increase its budget. It keeps us safe.
Republican-Lite Libertarian: I agree.
I could go on, but you get my drift. How can there be a real debate when the Liberty-Leaning Republican candidate and the Republican-Lite Libertarian Party candidate agree with each other on the important issues facing our country?
Moreover, if voters are given a choice between a Liberty-Leaning Republican presidential candidate and a Republican-Lite Libertarian Party presidential candidate, why would they ever waste their vote on the Republican-Lite Libertarian, especially given that the Republican-Lite Libertarian can never prevail against a Liberty-Leaning Republican (or any other Republican)?
A real debate
Now, compare that presidential “debate” with a real debate involving a Liberty-Leaning Republican and a Libertarian:
Debate Moderator: What is your position on immigration?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Secure the border.
Libertarian: Open the border entirely to the free movements of goods, services, and people. Abolish the Border Patrol and the Immigration Service.
Social Security?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Save and reform it.
Libertarian: End it immediately, along with all other socialist programs.
Medicare?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it by adopting health-savings accounts.
Libertarian: End it immediately, along with all other socialist programs.
Covid mandates and lockdowns?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: End them and put Liberty Leaning Republicans in charge of healthcare agencies.
Libertarian: End them, abolish all federal and state government healthcare agencies, and separate healthcare and the state entirely.
Education?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform the state education system by adopting school vouchers.
Libertarian: Separate school and state entirely.
Monetary Policy?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform the Federal Reserve.
Libertarian: Separate money and the state entirely.
Regulation?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it and put free-market-oriented conservatives in charge of regulatory agencies.
Libertarian: Separate economy and the state entirely.
Drug laws?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform them.
Libertarian: Legalize all drugs, without exception.
Income taxation?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Simplify it.
Libertarian: Abolish it.
Moderator: Foreign policy?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Intervene only when it is in our “national interest.”
Libertarian: End all foreign interventionism.
Moderator: The war on terrorism?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Reform it.
Libertarian: End it.
Moderator: Foreign aid?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Yes, but only when it is in our national interest.
Libertarian: End it, along with all other socialist programs.
The national-security establishment?
Liberty-Leaning Republican: Maintain or increase its budget. It keeps us safe.
Libertarian: Dismantle the national-security state and restore our founding system of a limited-government republic.
Now, you would have a real presidential debate, one in which the issues facing our country are joined and where the Libertarian presidential candidate would have the opportunity not only to smash the false and fallacious statist positions held by both Republicans and Democrats (and Republican-Lite Libertarians) but also the opportunity to explain to the American people what we Libertarians truly stand for and what we are fighting for — a genuinely free, peaceful, prosperous, voluntary, charitable, and harmonious society rather than a warmed-over, reformed welfare-warfare state.
A campaign of principle
There is no better way to restore the Libertarian brand of principled libertarianism and the Libertarian Party to its rightful role in the political arena as the Party of Principle than to run a presidential campaign based on pure libertarian principles. For better or for worse, the L.P. presidential candidate sets the tone for the entire party. That is the principal way that the American people learn about what we stand for and what we are fighting for. That’s why I am seeking the 2024 Libertarian Party nomination under the motto “A Campaign of Principle for the Party of Principle.”
I would respectfully invite every L.P. member, both past and present, to read and reflect on the following Substack articles I published last fall and to join us in our quest to restore the Libertarian brand of principled libertarianism and the Libertarian Party to its rightful role in the political arena as the Party of Principle:
The Party of Principle? (September 5, 2022)
The Bill Weld Phenomenon (September 11, 2022)
The Psychology of Libertarian Self-Esteem (September 20, 2023)
The L.P. Leadership and the “Party of Principle” (September 24, 2023)
How the Libertarian Party Became the Party of Reform and the Party of Republican-Lite (October 1, 2023)
Reform and Republican-Lite: A Losing Political Strategy (October 7, 2023)
The Falsity and Fallacy of the Libertarian Spectrum Concept (October 13, 2023)
A Problem of Leadership (October 22, 2023)
The Libertarian Party and the CIA (October 29, 2023)
None Dare Call for Repeal of Social Security (November 5, 2023)
Marc Victor’s Surrender to the Republicans (November 7, 2022)
Republican-Lite Is a Losing Strategy (November 18, 2023)
A Winning Political Strategy for the Libertarian Party (November 27, 2023
The Libertarian Party and Healthcare, Part 1: Medicare (December 6, 2023)
The Libertarian Party and Healthcare, Part 2: Covid (December 11, 2023)
Pragmatism and Republican-Lite Are Both Losing Political Strategies (December 23, 2023)