Badnarik the King-Slayer

Brian Doherty | October 25, 2004

Robert Novak notes how the Libertarian Party is targeting Wisconsin as a swing state in which they could possibly cost Bush the election. (scroll down, item "Libertarians vs. Bush: toward bottom). They are asking, Novak reports, Wisconsin Dems to give them money, promising to use it to target conservatives dissatisfied with Bush.

I'm not entirely sure that costing Bush the election will bring people rushing toward the LP or rushing away from it in morning-after remorse, but it should be interesting. The LP itself hypes Badnarik's ability to kill Bush in this press release about ads the campaign is running on Fox. (Part of the idea, I suppose, is that it might make the GOP skew more libertarian in 2008--but with what candidate?)

It will also be interesting if the LP manages to get props for it even if they do. I can easily imagine a scenario in which Badnarik "costs Bush the election"--that is, in which his votes are larger than the gap between Bush's and Kerry's in a state whose electoral votes are decisive in the election--and the likes of the New York Times don't even make a big deal out of it, out of a general sense that the LP isn't much worth noticing. We'll see.

UPDATE: As Thomas Knapp points out in the comments thread, the Times' John Tierney just yesterday noted Badnarik's spoiler possibilities, in a piece I hadn't yet seen. Scroll down for "Nader nibble from the right" subhead.