Reason.tv: Libertarian Party Chairman William Redpath Tells All—Why Barr fizzled in 2008 and reasons to be cheerful about the future

September 23, 2009

At July's FreedomFest in Las Vegas, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch sat down with the chairman of the Libertarian Party William Redpath to discuss what went right (and wrong) in the LP's 2008 electoral season, how the government's response to economic tumult is shaping policy, and the hopes for a freer, more individualistic society.

"Some people say, 'Don't you get kind of depressed sometimes,'" jokes Redpath, "and I say, "We'll have a libertarian society someday, when it's imposed on us by the Chinese government....Ultimately, if our politicians don't have the cojones to step up and make the tough decisions they need to make, our foreign creditors are going to make them for us."

Approximately 10 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Click here for embed code and downloadable versions.

Comments

|9.23.09 @ 6:22PM|#

a free society imposed on us? Interesting concept, how does it work? Obviously a libertarian will never get elected, because each time one party becomes unpopular, everyone sways all the way to the otherside!

iamse7en|9.23.09 @ 6:30PM|#

Haha...

Loved the comment about our foreign creditors.

So true. All ponzi schemes fall. Bigger ones just take a little longer.

|9.23.09 @ 6:30PM|#

The Libertarian Party's emergence as a force in national politics is only ten years away!

Just like controlled fusion.

Rimfax|9.23.09 @ 6:35PM|#

Whenever I hear Bill Redpath's name, all I can think of is the uproar within the Virginia LP over his gun rights positions when he ran for governor.

tankrunner1123|9.23.09 @ 6:37PM|#

He isnt the only one that is optimistic about a Libertarian victory. The Dirty Trickster himself Roger Stone predicts a third party threat and/or victory in 2012 if the Republicans dont pull their heads out of their asses.

http://www.pjtv.com/v/2463

Elemenope|9.23.09 @ 6:41PM|#

The Libertarian Party's emergence as a force in national politics is only ten years away!

Just like controlled fusion.

I'm pretty sure we'll have the fusion first.

LarryA|9.23.09 @ 7:09PM|#

"We'll have a libertarian society someday, when it's imposed on us by the Chinese government....Ultimately, if our politicians don't have the cojones to step up and make the tough decisions they need to make, our foreign creditors are going to make them for us."

Somehow I don't see either the Communist Chinese or Republicrat U.S. governments moving us in a libertarian direction, particularly in the midst of a financial meltdown. We might have to get out and push, and it's going to be steep uphill.

|9.23.09 @ 7:29PM|#

Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 8:31 AM
Subject: event with Speaker Pelosi at my home
"You are cordially invited to a reception with
Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi
Thursday, September 24, 2009
6:30pm ~ 8:00pm
At the home of
Steve Elmendorf
2301 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Apt. 7B
Washington, D.C.
$5,000 PAC
$2,400 Individual
To RSVP or for additional information please contact
Carmela Clendening at [phone] or [e-mail]
Steve Elmendorf
ELMENDORF STRATEGIES
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS SOLUTIONS
900 7th Street NW Suite 750 Washington DC 20001
[phone]
Again, Elmendorf is a registered lobbyist for UnitedHealth, and his
firm's website brags about its work for UnitedHealth on its website.
The sequencing here is important: Pelosi makes her announcement and
then just hours later, the fundraising invitation goes out.
Coincidental? I'm guessing no - these things rarely ever are.
I wrote a book a few years ago called Hostile Takeover whose premise
was that corruption and legalized bribery has become so widespread
that nobody in Washington even tries to hide it. This is about as
good an example of that truism as I've ever seen."
Are you going to attend?

BlueBook|9.23.09 @ 7:36PM|#

Superhuman artificial intelligence is only ten years away. When it arrives, it will either lift us all into a glorious techno-libertarian utopia, or it will use our bodies as raw materials to build a world-spanning karaoke machine.

Gene Berkman|9.23.09 @ 7:49PM|#

Bill Redpath is articulate about what Libertarians stand for, and he makes a valid point that the LP had some strong down ticket races.

The biggest shortcoming of the LP's national leadership is their failure to realize the opportunities for an alternative party are in local races - state legislature and maybe Congress. People will listen to their neighbor say radical things but dismiss the same radical ideas if they see a stranger say them on TV.

The Libertarian Party has limited resources, and it won't be an effective force until the resources are allocated in a rational manner, rather than pissed away on a Presidential campaign that is guaranteed to fail.

And if the Chinese foreclose on us, they are likely to use eminent domain to get value for their dollars, rather than rely on a free society being productive.

JB|9.23.09 @ 7:49PM|#

"We'll have a libertarian society someday, when it's imposed on us by the Chinese government....Ultimately, if our politicians don't have the cojones to step up and make the tough decisions they need to make, our foreign creditors are going to make them for us."

I'm more in agreement with these sentiments these days.

So Obama, how does it feel to be a bought and paid for slave of the Chinese?

Mike|9.23.09 @ 8:33PM|#

Finishing fourth is unacceptable. Redpath trying to rationalize why it's okay that they lost to Nadar shows just how minor league the LP really is.

With that being said, the ballot access stuff has to be the LP's short term goal, so in that respect, 2008 wasn't a total loss. Still, in the wake of the Ron Paul movement, it seems like a poor return.

Also, I cringed at the word "peers." The LP needs to stop looking at the other third parties as equals. They need to look down on the Constitution Party in the same way the R's and D's look at the LP: It's not even worth mentioning.

Still, I like Redpath. He seems like a cool guy.

jesse|9.23.09 @ 8:58PM|#

ARTIFICIAL intelligence is already here, it is called CNN

Hugh S|9.23.09 @ 9:32PM|#

Bob Barr failed because those of us who know him, know that he's a neo-con. His views are so far from libertarian ideals (he scoffs at almost anything "liberty" related), we'll never see a serious contender for the presidency if this is the best we can nominate for the party.

The Angry Optimist|9.23.09 @ 10:13PM|#

Hugh S - that is a complete and total lie. Barr is opposed to overseas intervention and torture. He's not hot about drugs, but is light years better than most.

you're one of the Libertarian Priesthood. Go away.

|9.23.09 @ 10:20PM|#

Bob Barr was pro drug war most his life...most Libertarians didn't believe his conversion.

When it mattered he was pro-Iraq war and pro-Federal Reserve.

I even voted for him, but I couldn't sell him. It is like trying to sell a $1000 vacuum cleaner that you don't really like that much....and that uptight air about him...he looks like a neo-con.

Ron Paul looks trustworthy and I bet the former track star/baseball player could kick Barr's ass even with the 25 years he has on chickenhawk Barr.

|9.23.09 @ 10:26PM|#

Bush deceived Congress about use of Patriot Act. (Oct 2008)....really, you trusted Son of Bush???you fail Barr...this is similar to Hillary Clinton excuses for pro-war votes.

Regrets voting for the USA PATRIOT Act. (Dec 2003)

Military tribunals ok, if monitored & defined. (Dec 2003)

Voted YES on $266 billion Defense Appropriations bill. (Jul 1999)

Voted YES on deploying SDI. (Mar 1999)

|9.23.09 @ 10:34PM|#

It is like trying to sell a $1000 vacuum cleaner that you don't really like that much....and that uptight air about him...he looks like a neo-con.

Somebody's buying these Dysons. They're expensive, but I guess they must be really good or something.

Wait, what are we talking about?

|9.23.09 @ 10:36PM|#

You know what the LP needs? One of them print ads where they photoshop in some non-Caucasians.

|9.23.09 @ 10:47PM|#

You really don't have to photoshop. That black guy in Arizona with the big gun would volunteer.

|9.23.09 @ 11:08PM|#

We'll have a libertarian society someday, when it's imposed on us by the Chinese government

And people don't take the LP seriously!

d|9.23.09 @ 11:24PM|#

Is everyone trying to watch this video right now, or is there something wrong with my interwebnets (like nearby teens downloading porn right now)?

|9.24.09 @ 12:41AM|#

The Libertarian Party is completely irrelevant, and will remain so as long as they are obsessed with getting on presidential election ballots, only to win half a percent of the popular vote (and then declare that a success!). Even if a Libertarian president were somehow elected (imagine the Eddie Murphy skit about Jesse Jackson), I don't think he would be able to do much of consequence. Both parties would fight him tooth and nail on everything. The president can't simply dissolve government departments; those were created by federal laws. He'd be a lame duck on the first day of his presidency.

The LP should be spending money to educate people on what libertarianism actually is, and especially about how mainstream the ideas really are -- virtually every libertarian platform is advocated by a significant faction of either of the two major parties. Most people have no idea what libertarianism really is. One of my well-educated, intelligent relatives thought LaRouche was a Libertarian, FFS. The LP will never be successful unless the electorate actually knows what they represent.

At the same time, the LP should promote candidates for municipal, county, and state governments. In certain states like Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and New Hampshire, libertarians could probably even be competitive in Congressional races. It might be worth a shot to raid the Republican Liberty Caucus, and try to convert some of their officeholders to the LP, which would lend credibility to the party.

Right now, I think there is a lot of disillusionment with the Obama administration from those who thought he was either more fiscally moderate or socially liberal. The Bush administration will remain fresh in everyone's mind for a few election cycles, and it has stigmatized the GOP in general as a hypocritical big government party. Austrian economists have been vindicated by current events, and the school has its most currency and traction in 80 years. Now is the perfect time for the Libertarian Party to make serious inroads, but unless they change their strategy, they are only going to squander the opportunity.

|9.24.09 @ 1:20AM|#

Even if a Libertarian president were somehow elected (imagine the Eddie Murphy skit about Jesse Jackson), I don't think he would be able to do much of consequence. Both parties would fight him tooth and nail on everything. The president can't simply dissolve government departments; those were created by federal laws.

Well, a (totally ludicrously hypothetical) libertarian President could veto legislation left, right, and center.

But, obviously, there won't be a libertarian President, so yeah. I tend to agree with Gene Berkman that the most promising route to mainstream cred for the LP would be to concentrate national resources on winning a single House seat or two (cherry picking the least unlikely districts in the nation), or, failing that, state legislatures, and then building from there.

It'd be interesting to see what would happen, there: if a LP candidate for House started polling at, say, 20% of the vote in his/her district, what would the reaction of the Republicans and Democrats be? It's possible that they'd see it as a threat and put outsized resources into crushing it, which would suck for the LP. But my suspicion is that they aren't agile enough as organizations to do that.

Not that I have the slightest bit of professional expertise here, so I'm completely talking ex rectum.

Flex Nasty B.I.G.|9.24.09 @ 1:25AM|#

LP national candidates ought to pursue a bottom up media strategy. Saturate the third-tier media which WILL give them coverage (e.g., local papers, regional cable networks, campus newspapers, etc.) to build enough buzz to break into the 2nd tier (Des Moines Register, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, etc.) Quit gunning for CNN/MSNBC and failing.

|9.24.09 @ 6:50AM|#

Bob Barr screwed the pooch by snubbing Ron Paul, and then demanding that Ron Paul endorse him. The lesson for the LP this time around was "Don't nominate the Name Brand Politician as a publicity ploy, nominate someone with principles." If they'd picked Steve Kubby, they'd have gotten my vote. As it is, I wrote in Ron Paul.

-jcr

|9.24.09 @ 6:52AM|#

Ultimately, if our politicians don't have the cojones to step up and make the tough decisions they need to make, our foreign creditors are going to make them for us."

I don't know about that. Sure maybe Obama or Bush would not declare war on china over debt but we all know what leader took over Germany after it could no longer and was unwilling to pay a debt that it owed. Sure the reparations that Germany was forced to pay were unjust....but how far would some of the more statists people in our country have to go to confuse enough people into thinking all that money our country owes was burdened upon us unjustly?

|9.24.09 @ 7:03AM|#

Superhuman artificial intelligence is only ten years away.

More like 5...Morse law and all that.

the guess of 2012-2014 has been pretty accurate for the past 10 to 15 years.

The number of computations a human mind can preform per second is a known and the growing number of computations a computer can calculate per second measured over time has been pretty constant.

Sure a computer that can computate more calculations then a human mind may not have a "soul" or "personal identity" (at least not right away or may not be desired).....but don't be so fast in not calling it intelligence.

|9.24.09 @ 8:05AM|#

@Joshua Corning: I think you misunderstand the author and Redpath. He doesn't mean foreign governments will literally make our decisions, he means foreign creditors will stop buying our debt after we default or unilaterally renounce the national debt. If that happens, we won't be able to afford government spending at a level remotely near anything in recent memory.

In other words, if our politicians don't face reality and make the decisions on what we can and cannot afford, then, at some point, the creditors will just cut them off, cold turkey.

And I think you mean Moore's Law.

|9.24.09 @ 10:49AM|#

The LP has had one electoral vote in forty years, thats not a political party, its a sad pathetic joke!

|9.24.09 @ 11:15AM|#

That black guy in Arizona with the big gun

Is it racist if its true?

|9.25.09 @ 11:45AM|#

This pipe dream interview is exactly why the Libertarian Party is considered a joke by most people. A total inability to look at the world as it is.
Besides, having candidates such as Barr, who run as Libertarians just because they can't get on another ticket, add insult to injury.

Comrade Laissez-Faire|9.27.09 @ 2:57PM|#

Bob Barr and Wayne Allen Root are phony libertarians. Like Ron Paul, they are paleoconservatives. At least Paul doesn't pretend to be a libertarian anymore and unlike Barr and Root, he holds a libertarian position in relation to a non-interventionist foreign policy. Redpath has joined social conservatives with rhetoric related to "protecting our children" and plays down social liberties and foreign policy in favor of economic liberty.

The LP is no longer the "Party of Principle" since its paleoconservative takeover in 2008. It is now the formerly Libertarian Party. More food for thought:

http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/classically-liberal-the-libertarian-party-is-a-walking-corpse/

Orlando|10.11.09 @ 6:48PM|#

You've got to work on that sitting posture there, Matt!