Wayne's World, Party Time, Excellent

A little while ago I chatted with erstwhile Libertarian vice presidential candidate Wayne Allyn Root, to get a grapple on where the LP is going after 2008. Root didn't figure much into Brian Doherty's excellent rundown of the LP campaign, so I wanted to get his perspective.

"I just wrapped up another little political discussion," said Root. "I was talking to a guy who's run nine campaigns in Las Vegas, and won eight of them. He thinks I'm an absolute favorite for mayor of Las Vegas in 2011. And keep in mind, it's a non-partisan race, and the incumbent is term-limited, even though he's been inspired by Michael Bloomberg to try and change that."

Root was "obviously disappointed" with how the Barr/Root presidential campaign ended, but the only specific criticism he made was the decision to "stiff Ron Paul" at his September 10 press conference and offer him the LP vice presidential slot. "If you want him to get behind you, offer him the top spot on the ticket. If you want to snub him, offer him the number two spot. I mean, why would he ever take that, this candidate who'd won a million votes?"

That's as negative as he wanted to get. "I'm a team player," he said. He concentrated on his game plan for the next four years.

– "Pick up the Ron Paul torch." Root is reaching out to RP's old base of supporters, like moneybomb originator Trevor Lyman, and appearing on Lyman's Break the Matrix site whenever he can.

– "Become Rush Limbaugh." Root's book The Conscience of a Libertarian will hit shelves in May, and he's proud of the subtitle: "Empowering the citizen revolution, with God, guns, gambling, school choice and tax cuts."

– "Find the next David Koch." Root's convinced, and he's not alone, that the secret of the LP's success in the 1980 campaign was the vice presidential candidacy of deep-pocketed libertarian philanthropist David Koch. "I will spent the next four years with one goal in mind: Finding a billionaire running mate. Believe me when I tell you I will find him, or her. All of a sudden I'll be on TV day and night, just like Ross Perot, and suddenly we'll get 19 million votes, just like Ross Perot."