Pity the poor libertarian. No matter which party he attends, he'll still be the one standing in the corner all by himself:
Certainly, libertarians — even those who are hostile to conservatives — must recognize that Obama and the progressives are the great threat now. And I think, as compared to 2008, libertarians tend to get this. It is true that, even if the Republicans and conservatives win the Presidency, the Senate, and the House, they would likely achieve less than one would hope. But that is, one must admit, the reality of politics. Change is gradual.
Libertarians are in a tricky situation. Being neither liberal nor conservative, they must navigate in a world in which they are a small minority. For those in the academy, there is a strong temptation to emphasize the distinction with conservatives, so that they can “pass” for non-conservatives.
Sometimes people think you have changed when you've really stayed the same and it's the world around you that has changed. I've had libertarian tendencies since high school. Even back before I thought in political terms, I had that leave-me-the-hell-alone attitude that's at the heart of libertarian thought. When I first started arguing politically, it was the left that seemed a natural ally to me, because people over there were the ones making the biggest noise about government evil (as it turned out, it was mostly draft-age guys who didn't want to be drafted). But then the war ended, and the left went back to big-government-is-good government, and the right seemed a better fit for my views.
Because libertarians are in the minority, we're never going to have a strong presence in Washington and certainly not going to have a true believer as president. So if we want to see anything on our agenda accomplished, we have to have allies, and that means accepting some unpleasant baggage no matter which one we pick. If we choose the left because we mostly want to get the government out of our bedrooms and the popular cutlure, we have to put up with progressive delusions about the benefits of the regulatory state. If we choose the right in order to tame Washington's spending and overreach, we have to live with the social-conservative agenda that seeks to have time stand still (or even back up).
This country has a debt that will crush us and some transfer-of-wealth liabilities that just can't be sustained. Ain't no help there at all from the left, so libertarians really have to bond with conservatives if they are serious about trying to save the country. And their primary duty, alas, will be to persuade conservatives to keep their eye on the fiscal ball. It's a dirty job,but . . .
