In the March 1981 issue of reason, columnist
Murray Rothbard was unsparing in his assessment of the Libertarian
Party's presidential ticket. “After an unprecedented hype and a
highly expensive campaign,” Rothbard wrote, “it managed to corral
only one percent of the vote. It is nowhere near its goal of
becoming a third major party.” Little did anyone know that the
disappointing 1 percent finish achieved by attorney Ed Clark and
his running mate, industrial titan David Koch, would mark the
Libertarian Party’s presidential high water mark.
Since its inception in 1972 the Libertarian Party (L.P.) has participated in 10 presidential elections, cracking the single-digit threshold just that once (with a scant 1.06 percent). Popular libertarian movement figures such as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) in 1988 and investment guru Harry Browne in 1996 and 2000 never managed to take even 0.5 percent of the popular vote. Paul was the last L.P. candidate to finish as high as third place; Ralph Nader has outpolled the party’s nominee in every election after 1992.
In the last cycle, Bob Barr seemed positioned to change all that. The 2008 nominee, a former Georgia congressman and recent defector from the GOP, arguably had the highest national profile of any L.P. candidate in at least two decades. His running mate, enthusiastic Las Vegas pitchman Wayne Allyn Root, wooed some Libertarians with his vision of mainstreaming the party into electoral relevance. The emergence of Ron Paul as a significant national force within the GOP suggested that the lure of political libertarianism was stronger than ever.
But even before the election, the nomination of two longtime Republicans (both of whom had previously favored policies, such as the war on drugs and the Defense of Marriage Act, abhorred by many Libertarians) left the party deeply divided, a rift that was on full display at a contested and controversial nominating convention. When Election Day came, the Barr/Root ticket received just 0.4 percent of the vote—the party’s highest percentage since 1996 and its highest raw vote total since 1980, but still a disappointment. Both candidates ended up going back to the GOP, with Barr endorsing Newt Gingrich during the 2012 election cycle and Root backing Mitt Romney.
Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2012/11/15/can-the-libertarian-party-get-1-percent
Since its inception in 1972 the Libertarian Party (L.P.) has participated in 10 presidential elections, cracking the single-digit threshold just that once (with a scant 1.06 percent). Popular libertarian movement figures such as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) in 1988 and investment guru Harry Browne in 1996 and 2000 never managed to take even 0.5 percent of the popular vote. Paul was the last L.P. candidate to finish as high as third place; Ralph Nader has outpolled the party’s nominee in every election after 1992.
In the last cycle, Bob Barr seemed positioned to change all that. The 2008 nominee, a former Georgia congressman and recent defector from the GOP, arguably had the highest national profile of any L.P. candidate in at least two decades. His running mate, enthusiastic Las Vegas pitchman Wayne Allyn Root, wooed some Libertarians with his vision of mainstreaming the party into electoral relevance. The emergence of Ron Paul as a significant national force within the GOP suggested that the lure of political libertarianism was stronger than ever.
But even before the election, the nomination of two longtime Republicans (both of whom had previously favored policies, such as the war on drugs and the Defense of Marriage Act, abhorred by many Libertarians) left the party deeply divided, a rift that was on full display at a contested and controversial nominating convention. When Election Day came, the Barr/Root ticket received just 0.4 percent of the vote—the party’s highest percentage since 1996 and its highest raw vote total since 1980, but still a disappointment. Both candidates ended up going back to the GOP, with Barr endorsing Newt Gingrich during the 2012 election cycle and Root backing Mitt Romney.
Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2012/11/15/can-the-libertarian-party-get-1-percent
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