Stern Message

Radio's bad boy holds a funhouse mirror up to politics.

Nick Gillespie from the July 1994 issue

(Page 2 of 2)

Libertarian stalwarts, understandably anxious that their party has been crashed by an unprincipled wild man, can rest easy that Stern is being honest when he insists he's a libertarian. While he might not appreciate the often arcane arguments of hemp enthusiasts or Second Amendment activists, he is a devotee of individual responsibility and supports legalizing drugs, lowering taxes, and shrinking the state.

Perhaps more than any person in the country, Stern knows the value of free speech and the government's capricious defense thereof: The Federal Communications Commission has fined his employer, Infinity Broadcast Corp., over $2 million for "indecency" and, for a while, blocked it from buying new radio stations. Candidate Stern's presence also exposes the absurdity of such "public interest" FCC regulations as the equal-time requirement: Should Mario Cuomo and the as-yet-unnamed Republican nominee be given time slots to engage in phony phone calls, butt-bongo fiesta, and other typical Stern antics?

As much as he goofs on the Libertarians for their chess-club mentality and their geekiness, Stern agrees with most of their ideas. In fact, Stern's intuitive embrace of the Libertarian rebuke of the leviathan state may well indicate broadbased support for the party's general principles. Given New York's bloated state and local governments, its residents -- and Stern is nothing if not the embodiment of that once-great state and city -- are in a particularly good position to understand the negative effects of big government. Though they chafe under his wisecracks, both the state and national Libertarian parties have gained an exposure for their platforms unimaginable without Stern's candidacy. If Stern manages to garner 50,000 votes, the NYLP will have guaranteed ballot access -- something they've never enjoyed -- through the 1998 elections. And on the off-chance he wins in November -- he's currently around 30 percent in the polls and climbing -- he's pledged to put libertarians in high places.

But Stern offers a more general lesson to those outside the L.P., too: If you look at him and merely see a laughingstock, you are forgetting that the joke is already in office.