Excellent point. That is a distinction I should have made.

There is, I believe, a large and ever growing disconnect between the two. And THERE is where, in my humble opinion, there lies some fertile ground for libertarians growing their ranks or at least gaining common allies. (And not in allying themselves with ACLU supporting leftists, gleefully enjoying their Schadenfruede over conservatives taking exception to them being all generically lumped together as potential security risks in that DHS report; I refer to the “Thoreau” site and its comments per Mr. Gordon’s post above).

The “majority of republicans” (at least as far as myself and every registered republican I know; and based on the sentiments I glean from conservative websites and a.m. talk radio) voted for GWB over Kerry, based primarily on holdover 911 support, and supporting the efforts to at least TRY to successfully finish what was started in Iraq (even if it was a mistake to have started it in the first place),and the view that Kerry was an elitist phony poseur and ‘unfit’ for command.

But a HUGE percentage if not the actual “majority” of rank and file registered republicans were intensely dismayed and disillusioned by W’s domestic policies in his second term, which included his positions on border security, and that idiotic SC nomination which required an exhausting effort of screaming by the ‘base’ to get him to withdraw….but primarily in the quite possibly permanent damage to the “brand” caused by W and the other “moderate” republicans competely and totally abandoning any pretense of being for smaller government, fiscal responsibility, and lower taxes.

In short, joining together with the Socialists on the other side of the aisle, quite possibly destroyed the party.

The “majority” of rank and file, flyover country, middle America republicans, did NOT vote for John McCain; they were either voting for Sarah Palin – and/or they were voting AGAINST a choice they considered even worse than Mr. Inside the Beltway, with his many “good friends,” “across the aisle”.

THOSE are the people who came out to the Tea Parties. The demographic I just described, represents (and I would be a large sum of money on this) no less than 85-90% of the hundreds of thousand attendees at those Tea Parties. And with all due respect, I don’t think anybody in the Libertarian world should make the mistake of assuming (or hoping) to the contrary.

That’s your recruiting ground for growth. Yeah, you’ll be forced to grudgingly tolerate those naive and delusional Jesus believers, those who think abortion is murder, and those who just can’t quite get themselves into the 21st Century yet the whole idea of same sex marrriage – but if you REALLY want to finally stop being just an odd little fringe group, who has yet to ever truly influence national politics – here’s your opportunity. You’ll just have to hold your nose and focus on the common ground you do share with them.

Because I think the GOP either needs an enema, or it is dead.

I just read that the national GOP is, incredibly, throwing its full support behind getting Arlan Spector re-elected. Under the guise that keeping up the sheer numbers is the way to go and he allegedly has the better chance of winning. Rather than recognizing that it is better in the long run (and critical) to purge the party once and for all of politicians who are completely indistinguishable from the other party. Which means the national GOP is so out of touch with its true rank and file, it is a hopeless basket case.

She sure knows how to identify good character.

A start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Schakowsky#Controversy_regarding_Illinois_Public_Action_Fund

I welcome any Republican who will join with *US* to fight for freedom. Over the last 8 years, the majority of Republicans have been acting like Democrats are a force to emulated, not opposed, at least on the domestic side. If they are truly prodigal children of the pro-liberty movement, great.

Our skepticism, though, is that the Republicans who are now out of power only oppose the current spending binge because the other guy has the purse strings, and that they’ll astroturf the pro-liberty movement and ditch us once back in power. It’s happened before.

I’ll work with anyone, of any party, if I think the issue is just and there is some chance of making a difference. I’ve worked Republican, Democratic and Libertarian campaigns.

I’m a libertarian partisan, but not necessarily an LP partisan. I’ll be the first (other than when I’m on LP national’s or a campaign payroll) to criticize the LP and often have when criticism is due.

And I’m not sure I have all that much credibility with some of the hardcore folks following the Barr campaign.

Stephen, you’ve got a lot of creditlity with the Libertarian hardcores. How ’bout stepping up and being the first to say, WE LIBERTARIANS NOW DECLARE AND ALLIANCE WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

Stephen, you’ve got a lot of creditlity with the Libertarian hardcores. How ’bout stepping up and being the first to say, WE LIBERTARIANS NOW DECLARE AND ALLIANCE WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.