Libertarian: A Bad Word?
This is an interesting little article from The Bonita Daily News:
The Bonita Springs City Council elections and the Oscars coincidentally take place three days apart starting next Sunday. So with the three public forums, featuring the seven candidates for three council seats, in the books, it’s time to hand out a few awards.Here is the best and the worst of Campaign 2006.
Best performance by a challenger: Richard Ferreira, who is running for District 1 against Wayne Edsall, sounds the part and has the best credentials with his 30 years in law enforcement. The fact that Ferreira irked Edsall during last week’s City Council meeting by stating he was a candidate during open forum earns him this award. But is it enough to unseat Edsall?
Go down 4-5 more awards and we find:
Best cheap shot by an incumbent: Edsall. “Let me mention that (my opponent, Ferreira) has accepted $500 from the treasurer of the Lee County Libertarian Party. Do you all understand that philosophy? You better read up. It could create more gridlock in our local government than we currently have on our roads.”
Seems that even associating with the Libertarian Party is a mockable offense.
The media, the major parties, and even some libertarians (unintentionally) have established for most people that libertarian = crazy.
In my opinion this is just one of 100 little examples of why the LP needs to rename itself the Liberty Party. Who makes fun of “liberty” as a philosophy?
February 27th, 2006 at 3:38 am
Yeah.
The only potential problem with “Liberty Party” at this point is that it might sound too much like “libertarian”. Guys like Edsall could maybe get away with saying, “He took $500 from the treasurer of the ‘Liberty Party’, which is a front for a bunch of … libertarians!”
February 27th, 2006 at 9:44 am
I don’t see how gridlock in the government is such a bad thing. The less they do the better.
February 27th, 2006 at 10:02 am
thats the usual public perception of the LP. You can make fun of it all you want, but the reality is people dont vote for our candidates becuase of it.
Instead of deriding the dude, you might consider if his view is something we need to take seriously and figure out how to overcome it so we can get more people elected.
February 27th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
Changing the name will not help things. Those in power will always try to deride and smear any of their challengers, particularly ones who call attention to corruption and waste. “Libertarian” is clearly not a “bad” word. Instead of changing the name of the party, you should work toward changing the party to be more libertarian, not less.
February 27th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
I think a close reading of this article shows the Libertarian Party in a favorable light. First, it commends Richard Ferreira, the candidate associated with the Libertarian Party, for the best performance by a challenger. And then it points out that the criticism of him by the incumbent, Edsall, for receiving a contribution from the Libertarian Party, as a cheap shot.
February 27th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
True… but the article is only one element of this story. The actual dig at the debate and whenever else this guy is using this line against his opponant without a newspaper reporter there to call it a cheap shot.
February 27th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
“Libertarian” by itself is not a very bad word, but it’s not a good one, either. Some people think it sounds a bit too much like “libertine” or “terror” or “totalitarian” ... or “liberal”, even, which is a dirty word nowadays. I don’t think it really calls to mind any other word in particular, but it is sort of long and awkward and most people don’t know what it means. “Liberty”, on the other hand, has strongly positive connotations in the U.S.
February 28th, 2006 at 8:02 am
If a name change is in order, I would propose something along the lines of The Logical Party, or The Logic And Common Sense Party.
Who can argue with logic? Well, conservatives and liberals I guess.
Still, it would make a great campaign slogan. Vote for _, the Logical choice!
February 28th, 2006 at 10:14 am
“most people don’t know what it means. “Liberty”, on the other hand, has strongly positive connotations in the U.S.”
... Most Americans don’t a clue about the meaning of Liberty either, or Republican or Democrat for that matter.
“Libertarian” is finally catching on and still people want a name change, as if that will be the silver bullet to success.
Thanks for the Bonita Daily News article.
March 1st, 2006 at 12:58 pm
“Who can argue with logic?”
Lots of people….religious extremists being the most glaring example.
The Libertarians have earned their reputation. The purists and their dogmatic approach to their philosophy have gotten them to the position. It is unfortunate, because there is a lot of merit in the LP…and they are the largest alternative party. There are issues in the LP that make no common sense. They are often based on idealistic principles…not common sense or logic.
Semantic warfare in politics….always a blast.
March 1st, 2006 at 1:26 pm
I think party name is always an issue for 3rd partys as we get labled as failed or yesterdays news without success.
In Minnesota we have the added troule of being called the Independence party, which means many don’t relize our candidates have a party and more important a resonable platform behind them. It would seem resonable that we will change our name next year as either we will have a sitting governor, or will be labled pretty much dead by all the pundits, meaning either we can move forward with little confusion of what we’re about with a new name, or we have nothing to lose.
Maybe the libertarian party should change to the Independence party for a few cycles as it will invite all voters to take a good look at the party.
March 1st, 2006 at 8:56 pm
The Other Party.
That way we can do better in the polls when people support other candidates.
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