Reason.tv: Wayne Allyn Root on God, Guns, Gambling, & Citizen Revolution

During Freedomfest, the annual mega-conference held in Las Vegas each July, Reason magazine Editor in Chief Matt Welch sat down with online-gambling enthusiast, 2008 Libertarian Party vice-presidential nominee, and Conscience of a Libertarian author Wayne Allyn Root.

In a fast-paced and wide-ranging conversation Root examines the failure of the Barr-Root ticket to generate enthusiasm even among LP members, why online gambling (though admittedly a "minor" issue) is the gateway drug to increasing the number of small-government voters, and why California's political and economic meltdown is the model for a series of rolling "economic catastrophes" that will hit the rest of the country over the next few years.

Approximately seven minutes long. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

Go here for embed code and downloadable versions.

More fun with Wayne Allyn Root: While running for the LP nod in 2008, Root, along with Bob Barr and Sen. Mike Gravel, discuss the "Future of Libertarian Politics" in the Reason DC HQ. Watch it here or click below:

Comments

[hmm]

Every time I watch Wayne I think he is trying to sell me a used 1980 Chevette with low miles and an AC that blows ice cold.

nothing personal, but he has a car salesmen personality that drives me batty.

[Warren]

hmm,
Exactly I get the same stench off of Peter Schiff. Only Root is thrice as foul.

Barr/Root did exactly bupkis to strengthen the LP while undermining the ideological foundation. Can me and the rest of the wackaloons have our party back now please?

[hmm]

Don't get me wrong. I think he is a genuine guy from what I have seen, but god his persona kills me. I don't know him personally so I can't pass judgment. I can just call it as I see it and every time I see Wayne it's "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! LIMITED TIME OFFER!!! GET THEM WHILE THEY ARE HOT!!!!!"

I won't talk about Barr. I get it, I don't agree, I won't argue it.

[Anonymous]

In addition to what you guys observed, he kinda looks like Bill Clinton and he wants to be Ross Perot!

I see no downsides here.

[roo]

snakeoil all the way. he was a republican up until early '07 and 30 months later he claims to have the authority to write THE book on libertarianism, even though it's mostly a rehash of goldwater. if not for the republicans cutting into his gambling revenue he'd still be one of them.

[Andya]

There is exactly one niche in the political world Root could fill- running for office in Las Vegas. Nationally, or even at the statewide level, he's just too damn used-car-salesman-y and too much of an obvious opportunist. Neither of which is nearly as big a handicap in a Vegas race.

[The Angry Optimist]

Can me and the rest of the wackaloons have our party back now please?

Over my dead body. Your "side" wanted to nominate someone who is OK with adult-child sex.

[Jeffersonian]

Root is right, and he has the right prescription. Will libertarians again make the perfect the mortal enemy of the very, very good?

[Pro Libertate]

TAO,

Really? Which candidate was that? I don't think it's exactly libertarian to allow children to be molested, if I can use "inflammatory" words.

[The Angry Optimist]

ProL:

Mary Ruwart, the "orthodox" LP candidate.

[Brandybuck]

Wayne is anti-aloof, and is genuinely excited to be talking with you. To some people that translates to "used car salesmen". At the California LP convention, he was outside hanging with the kids and talking sports, cars, etc.

[Andya]

I will grant that I despise Root a good deal less now than I did around July 2008. I place him in the same category as Glenn Beck- an idiot stumbling in the right direction (though not to insult Root's intelligence too much by equating him with the ramblin' Mormon). His arrogance is still insufferable, but I think he has demonstrated that he responds to criticism by fine-tuning his message, toning down the obnoxious egocentrism somewhat, and moving his stated policy positions in a more libertarian direction, particularly on foreign policy. I have a hard time seeing the LP nominating him in 2012, though, given that his popularity amongst LPers only seemed to go down after his VP nomination. Kudos to him for throwing Barr under the bus, at least.

[Episiarch]

I'd really like to hang with Root so that I can share his coke, because it seems like good stuff.

[Robert]

Don't get me wrong. I think he is a genuine guy from what I have seen, but god his persona kills me. I don't know him personally so I can't pass judgment. I can just call it as I see it and every time I see Wayne it's "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! LIMITED TIME OFFER!!! GET THEM WHILE THEY ARE HOT!!!!!"

Isn't that exactly what you need? Not for yourself, of course. The person who's already satisfied with hir car doesn't need a car seller. The seller is for the person who should buy.

[HyperIon]

Ha-ha. These guys discussing the "Future of Libertarian Politics" are really funny. But I don't think YOU guys are in on the joke.

[John C. Randolph]

He wants to be the Ross Perot of the next presidential election? How much of his own money is he looking to spend?

-jcr

[John C. Randolph]

There is exactly one niche in the political world Root could fill- running for office in Las Vegas.

I'd be happy to see him replace Harry Reid.

-jcr

[Quiet Desperation]

Wayne Allyn Root?

Geez, if that's not a serial killer name I don't know what is.

[squarooticus]

Warren: Schiff gives you a used car salesman vibe? He doesn't seem slick at all to me. If anything, he seems uncomfortable in front of a camera, and needs to learn to organize his thoughts better if he's going to make a serious run at the senate.

[hobbes]

This guy built his fortune marketing his worthless "picks" to bettors. That's fine as far as it goes, but I sure as hell would not want someone like that as the spokesman for the Libertarian Party, we can do better than this.

[jpocali]

Good lord! There is finally someone who has a personality trying to run and you are all going to bad mouth him? I try really had to be libertarian (little l or big l or whatever little cute thing you want to add to it) but you all drive me freakin mad!

Of course he has ego, of course he has that "hustle" to him! He knows what he wants and has been very successful. What's the problem? Isn't that what we are supposed to be about?? Would you rather run another milk-toast candidate?

Sometimes I fear that libertarians (again, see above) don't want anything more than to preach and teach with all the benefits and ego that go with being "outside the system".

@hobbes- I think I understand what you are saying.... how do you trust a hustler, but I ask you two questions. Who out there ain't a hustler? and What professions are good enough to be libertarian candidates?

[Anonymous]

little l or big l or whatever little cute thing you want to add to it

Um, there is quite a bit of difference between saying that you are a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party in the US and saying you subscribe to the libertarian political philosophy. The point isn't where they do or don't intersect, the point is that one is a group of ideas and the other is a group of people.

[onewhoknows]

Wayne Allyn Root is the lowest of the low in the gambling world. He was the the of guy that would sell his picks, give out one team on the east coast and another team on the west coast to guarantee that half his clientele were winners, and then he'd market hard there. He'd have multiple, conflicting picks, play against false lines, you name it, all in the name of inflating his record. He's a huckster and a charlatan.

[hmm]

Good lord! There is finally someone who has a personality trying to run and you are all going to bad mouth him?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bad mouthing him. I personally just can't get past the car salesman. I don't think he is incapable or even a bad politician. The persona just drives me batshit.

[Warren]

squarooticus,
Schiff appears on CNBC, and FOX every week. He does his own video blog, and radio show. He's very comfortable in front of a camera. He's got his patter down.

Yeah, that massive ego "I'm right and everybody else is an idiot" routine makes the same hairs on the back of my neck stand up as the last time I walked onto a KIA lot.

[Ratdog]

I beg your pardon, sir, no attack on any liberty is "small." The day they got away with taking one "small" freedom, was the day they kicked open the door to take the rest.

[Andy Dufrane]

I heard Wanye Root speak at a Tea Party in Texas and he was good, maybe the best speaker that day. But in interviews like this as someone else commented he comes off as a "used car salesman". He is barking up the wrong tree with the gambling thing. It may build a small fringe constituency buy should not be focused on. And whats with him and Barr wearing purple ties? Are they gay? (if so ..whatever) but dont rub it in my face. Root is a good guy, but he is better as a VP and not a P candidate. The Libertarian Party needs another Ron Paul, the genuine article.

[Andy Dufrane]

Root is an oppertunist, who is to focused on gambling, and comes off as a used car salesman, which is typical of a politician. The libertarian Party needs a true idealist. Barr was poisen, if Chuck Baldwin had been on the ballet in Texas I would have voted for him but was forced to vote for barr (didnt he vote for the Partiot act?). The Libertarian Party is better then to nominate a bunch of GOP rejects. Root is a good man and he gave a good speech in Austin I heard; But he needs to be VP candidate and not P candidate. If the party gets another Bob Barr it will set it back another 10-12 years.

[jpocali]

Um, there is quite a bit of difference between saying that you are a card-carrying member of the Libertarian Party in the US and saying you subscribe to the libertarian political philosophy. The point isn't where they do or don't intersect, the point is that one is a group of ideas and the other is a group of people.

Exactly my point.... Do I live in a Rural area but have rural ideas? The fact is that Libertarians have libertarian ideas, but by all means, let's focus on the important things (see preach and teach)......

[jpocali]

I will say this though.... can we tone down on the WAR thing? I know that it is your initials and that we are at "war" with big government, but having you yelling War over and over again smacks of dictatorship or something...... Like the despot leader looking out over his throngs......

[Anonymous]

Oh, WAR are his initials; hah! I just got it.

Score another point for the gambling man.

[Jim]

Having worked with Root in the past, I can verify that he is a scoundrel. We call people like him "touts" in the gaming business.

Onewhoknows is 100% right on this.

[cls]

Root is a conservative and his book shows it. Read it and you won't find one discussion of foreign policy. His idea of civil liberties is to want to legalize gambling (which is his business) and medicial marijuana -- that's pretty much it. Otherwise he avoids talking about civil liberties. HIs position is that one's rights should be violated by the Feds, but its just hunky-dory if the states do it. His book is written to attract conervatives to support him. As for his appeal, I understand that at a book signing in Vegas at a free market event he sold all of 9 copies while Steve Forbes sold out of the 100 copies of his new book.

[Thomas L. Knapp]

TAO,

It's not nice to lie about people.

[happy pessimist]

He kinda reminds me of an older version of Frodo's sidekick Sam in the Lord of the Rings movies.

is anyone else surprised that he admitted to having no chance in 2012 (and probably 2016)? Doesn't exactly exude confidence. It will be hard to take him seriously. On the other hand, the gambling thing might gain some attention. I liked his "canary in the coal mine" analogy for California. Powerful stuff.

[Justen Robertson]

Libertarians don't need slicks with "L" shaped badges, they need people with principles and leadership ability. This guy doesn't have principles, he's just carpetbagging with the party that will help him achieve personal goals. That's fine if you're a campaign contributor or a party member, but if you want to run the show you need to understand and embrace libertarian principles without exception. The sad thing is the few guys in politics who most accurately represent libertarian ideals are not even party members.

[RandianObjectivist]

Let's be pragmatic here. You're not going to find the Perfect Libertarian Candidate. I'm not a WAR fan or a Barr fan or a Harry Browne fan. As libertarians we need to support our candidates and stop cannibalizing them when when they don't win. The Barr-Root ticket was still better than the McBama ticket.

[Mongo]

Why is your time stamp in the future, RandianO??

[Mongo]

Wait - '09? How the fuck did I end up here??