Who's Getting The American Conservative's Votes?
Rounding up a magazine's ballots.
Reason isn't the only media outlet that posts its writers' voting plans each election. There is also Slate, which has not yet revealed whether its staff's support for Obama this year will be unanimous or merely overwhelming, and there is The American Conservative, which posted its roundup today. By my count, the TAC writers are casting four clear-cut votes for Barack Obama and four for Mitt Romney. One writer is backing Virgil Goode of the Constitution Party, and between four and six are supporting Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. (Two of the Johnson supporters say they might write in Ron Paul instead, and one of those Johnson/Paul undecideds says he'll back Obama if the race in his state is tight.) Three are undecided, with two of those three leaning toward Romney and one not stating a preference. One man is writing in Rand Paul. Seven are not voting in the presidential race, though one of those seven says he'd back Goode if he were on the ballot in his state. And a few just don't say how they're voting. One of the last group, William Lind, suggests that we should greet Election Day with a prayer: "We beseech Thee, O Lord, once again to grant us a Godly monarch."
The oddest decision comes from the immigration restrictionist Peter Brimelow, who explains that the most important issue to him is immigration, notes regretfully that there are no restrictionist candidates on the ballot where he lives, and ends up endorsing Gary Johnson, who wants more immigration, on the grounds that he at least likes Johnson's foreign policy. Brimelow is balanced by Marian Kester Coombs, who spends her entry explaining that the Democrats and Republicans are a two-headed beast and "Only the Libertarians see clearly how to escape the death spiral," then says she'll vote for Romney anyway. (The most anti-libertarian entry comes from Stephen Tippins, who believes that there are always "two reasons to vote for the Republican presidential candidate," of which the first "is simply that any viable third party candidate is usually a libertarian.")
Jeremy Beer, who makes a sarcastic case for Romney, writes what may be the most entertaining passage of the survey: "If you're pro-life, Catholic, and of a conservative disposition, isn't it obvious that the Mormon/Randian ticket is the only choice? I mean, the only pragmatic choice? This is politics, people! It's all about compromise and getting your hands dirty. And I, for one, refuse to compromise my pro-life beliefs and dirty my hands by refusing to compromise my pro-life beliefs and dirty my hands. Even if that dirt is really blood." I also appreciated Johnson supporter Scott Galupo's closing remark: "In the end, I'm the kind of voter—Republican-leaner in a critical battleground state—whose support Romney needs. Whatever happens Nov. 6, I will derive satisfaction from the infinitesimal harm I will cause to his campaign."