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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
Currently have Green Party majorities on their city councils.1. Libertarian PartyIf there’s a third party that’s been waiting in the wings to take the stage in American politics, it’s the Libertarian Party. Started in 1972 with the borrowed slogan “There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch”, they gained immediate attention when a Republican Elector pledged to Richard Nixon changed his vote to the Libertarian Party ticket of John Hospers and Theodora Nathan, casting the first electoral vote for a woman on a Presidential ticket in American history.Over the years, their influence would wax and wane as they fought to gain ballot access in all 50 states and find candidates to run. They found them in all sorts of places, from airline pilots to former Republican Congressman Ron Paul (who later switched his membership back to the GOP and got re-elected to the US House, and later, twice, ran for President on the GOP ticket).Their influence would be fairly minimal, however, until 2009, when the Tea Party movement grew in influence in opposition to the agenda of President Barack Obama and the supermajority Democrat-controlled Congress. The Libertarians worked within the movement and gained back much of the support they’d lost over the 90’s and 2000’s.The politics of the Libertarian Party are often viewed as hard right-wing, but this is not accurate. If anything, they are as government-minimalist as you can possibly get without going full-on anarchist. They favor a hands-off, absolute free-market approach to the economy, absolutely no government involvement or influence in personal matters, and no foreign aid or intervention unless absolutely, 1000% necessary. Ayn Rand wrote “Atlas Shrugged”, but the Libertarians expanded on it (ironically, since Rand herself hated the Libertarian Party, fearing their rule would lead to anarchism, which would eventually lead to collectivism, which she was heavily opposed to).From an electoral point of view, the Libertarian Party has probably been more successful than any current third party. They’ve reached the magic 1% level in 2 elections (1980 and 2012) and are the only third party since 1972 to get an electoral vote. They’re also the only one to have ballot access in all 50 states. They’ve won hundreds of elections to state and municipal seats and, as of today, 149 Libertarians are currently serving around the country (mostly in city councils).Other Articles you Might Like
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