Lexit: Libertarian Exit

Consider for a moment how the Democrats throw fits over the hubris of the Green Party to practice democracy. In Montana the Dems sued in court to keep the Greens off the ballot. In California they changed the election laws to squeeze them out.
Now compare that to the Republicans, who rarely complain about the far larger Libertarian Party.
In fact, the Libertarian Party surged by 92% after 2008, and yet Republicans rarely point fingers of blame like the Democrats do.
While the Dems try to shame Green Party voters, Republicans court Libertarian voters.

Libertarians smashed their previous records for votes and membership in 2016.

However, the glory days of the Libertarian Party might already be coming to an end.

At the end of January 2017 the party hit its highest membership number of this decade, 18,908. That number dropped 24 percent to 14,321 as of the end of August.
...Only 300 new paying members joined the party in August while over 2,000 failed to renew their membership.

Now much of the drop in 2017 was simply a natural decline in an off-year.
However, I found this article which might explain the big drop in August.

In a press release on August 15, 2017, in the wake of the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, the LP’s executive director Wes Benedict reiterated the party’s stance on bigotry:

“We condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant. Government should neither deny or abridge an individual human right based on sex, wealth, ethnicity, creed, age, national origin, personal habits, political preference, or sexual orientation.”

The press release went further, and asked any members who identified as white nationalists to leave the party:

“There is no room for racists and bigots in the Libertarian Party. If there are white nationalists who — inappropriately — are members of the Libertarian Party, I ask them to submit their resignations today. We don’t want them to associate with the Libertarian Party, and we don’t want their money. I’m not expecting many resignations, because our membership already knows this well.”

Maybe the membership didn't know this well.

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the political spectrum, the Democratic Socialists of America have surged in the post-2016 era.

Following the 2016 political campaign season, the party’s membership had gone from a relatively steady membership of roughly 6,000 to a membership of over 32,000. As such, it is believed to be the current largest socialist political party in the country.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the rise of the DSA and the decline of the Libertarians are both partly due to Trump.

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The Aspie Corner's picture

And now, like the rest of us, they're paying the price. The voters, not the assholes who run the party, or the think tanks that control the Duopoly. They'll still hold their nose and vote Repig (or Dem in many cases) if they can get their way with tax breaks and privatization scams...and boy have they gotten both in spades in the last 40 years from both parties.

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

@The Aspie Corner

Oh please. Libert-Aryan$ sucked Trump's dick in 2016.

In 2017 the Libertarian Party says "we don't want you". Suddenly people who were members in 2016 dropped off.
Coincidence? Probably not.

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Wink's picture

show I often catch
@The Aspie Corner
as I'm boppin' around town on a Sat. (or is it Sun.?) night, "Free Talk," or something like that, Loves their Trumpster! And all things conservative. My guess is most simply jumped ship back to the Republicon party. That radio show, btw, comes out of Vermont, and they're always giving Bernie a poke, natch.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Lookout's picture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8-k_Qsf4vA (12 min)

Too bad the corpacrats are focused on their billionaires.

I'm not familiar with David but google thought I should be so....obey the algorithm...obey the algorithm...

youtube is kinda scary really, but we investigate where we can. Hope all is well with you and yours.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

gulfgal98's picture

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the rise of the DSA and the decline of the Libertarians are both partly due to Trump.

I may be misinterpreting what you are saying so if I did, my apologies in advance.

But I am more inclined to believe that the majority of the rise in the DSA can be attributed to former Bernie Democrats who Dem-exited after being told in no uncertain terms that the Democratic party did not and does not want them in the future. I sincerely doubt that former Libertarians would join the DSA.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

@gulfgal98

I sincerely doubt that former Libertarians would join the DSA.

I meant that a) Trump has attracted racists away from the Libertarians, and b) Trump (and the failures of the Dems) have caused people to turn to socialism.

Of course there are additional factors as well.

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gulfgal98's picture

@gjohnsit may not be my strongest skill. Thanks for clarifying.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

thanatokephaloides's picture

@gulfgal98

I sincerely doubt that former Libertarians would join the DSA.

With the historic stances American Socialists have taken about the Drug War, taxation of ordinary working folks, etc., it's not all that farfetched an idea. Curbing the power of Wall Street and its hyper-rich favored ones is something shared in common between socialists and most working class folks who claim libertarianism.

I ought to know, being one such working-class ex-libertarian myself.....

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

is not a political party. So a direct comparison to the Libertarian Party is not completely appropriate. I would LOVE To see a Democratic Socialist Party in the USA but so far anyway, DSA is not it.

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