Do you think that there is any chance a libertarian could become president of the US in the next 10 years? How much would he have to adapt his policies to the mainstream in order to get elected?
What would be the exact policies of such a “compromise libertarian” candidate? Which strategies would you suggest for the primaries? Which for the final run-off?
Maybe, if US were a democracy.
There’s no proof that compromising ever worked better than not.
It would seem higher than you might expect. Perhaps I’m being too optimistic…
All I have to say is this: when Obama was on his way to getting elected, everyone I knew was speculating that he’d be assassinated, cuz he’s black or whatnot. In that same respect, I do believe that if a libertarian was elected, and by libertarian I mean Ron Paul or better, he would be assassinated. Either that or he would be swiftly “de-libertarianized” by the behind-the-scenes elites. Probably the latter, considering that a libertarian elected president implies a voting citizenry that would not be to pleased with his assassination. Once he’d been thoroughly delibertarianized, the public would catch on to this and the state would continue its inevitable course to deligitimization. We win either way.
The Libertarian Party is a joke. I could still see a libertarian-esque guy like Gary Johnson getting elected via the Republican Party, but I think it’s a long shot.
Him or her would have sacrified liberty. No chance.
I personally do not think so and to be honest, would rather not see it happen. First of all, I believe that Libertarian philosophy is something that people have to come to appreciate and understand through their own will and wanting to learn. With that being said, there are obviously way too many people in this world who do not know a whole lot about Libertarianism or even appreciate it. The reason why I would rather not see a Libertarian become president is because I feel that the very job itself would jeoparsize their Libertarian beliefs.
Will a Muslim be elected Pope in the next ten years?
Mencken: the average joe is too stupid to know what liberty truly is; even if he did, he would be too afraid to embrace it. The insecure morons on both sides of the political spectrum will always be looking for a way to use the state for their own benefit. A truly libertarian candidate must adhere to the libertarian principals–NO expansion of governmental power while fighting to purge ALL governmental power. The dems want to use the state’s coercive power to give out positive rights and stop “climate change.” The republicans want to use the state’s power to “democratize” the world and enforce its moral vision. In a democracy, governmental power is too attractive to people who want to take what others have or control society for their definition of the “common good.” A libertarian candidate would have to sacrifice the majority of his beliefs to be seriously considered, thus he wouldn’t be a real libertarian candidate.