Should Libertarian Candidate Make Way For Scott Brown?

The Libertarian Party candidate in the Martha Coakley-Scott Brown special election for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat is getting bombarded with quit-the-race messages, may be the subject of misleading robocalls, and briefly let it be known that "people have been told to threaten" him, according to the TPM network.

"I implore you to step aside and encourage your supporter to vote for Scott Brown," says a message to candidate Joe Kennedy (no relation to Ted Kennedy).

Is this that night-before-the-election drama where Mr. Republican shows up, kicks in your door, breaks your forearm, comes at you with a kitchen knife, chases you into the bathroom and then declares, "Swear to Jesus, baby, this time I've really changed"?

No! The pressure on Kennedy to quit the race is not coming from Brown's truck or the Republican camp, but from Tea Party organizers:

"The Massachusetts Tea Party movement is banding together to contact Joe Kennedy and ask him to step out of next Tuesday's Senate race," reads a Tea Party email obtained by TPMDC. (The Massachusetts Tea Party is part of the national Tea Party Patriots organization.)

Unnamed "Tea Party faithful" are said to be appalled at this truckling to the latest in a long a line of GOP Mr. Rights. Kennedy is staying in the race and may yet earn himself a spot as the Ralph Nader of the right, the guy you're supposed to blame while paying too much for mandatory weekly rectal probes. (See Peter Suderman's excellent breakdown of the possible effect a win by Brown could have on the reconciliation version of the health care reform bill.)

The Brown campaign, meanwhile, seems to understand the mathematical certainty that more people will vote for Kennedy because they think he's one of the Kennedys than because he's a Libertarian. If the Republican is trying to muscle in on Kennedy's 1 to 2 percent of the vote, there's no evidence of it.

"Joe Kennedy is the name you can trust," says a robocall that's actually being sponsored by Kennedy supporters.

Comments

[RCTL]

"more people will vote for Kennedy because they think he's one of the Kennedys than because he's a Libertarian." Those kennedy boys were sluts. He may just be a kennedy.

[Rob McMillin]

Clearly, the LP should just run somebody with a famous name every year.

[Peter North]

Did you inhale their members too?

[hell hath]

And you might be a fluffer.

[WOMAN]

Glad you learned your lesson. One less boy to teach.

[bleephole]

Dumb troll

[RCTL alias]

WOMAN

[The Libertarian Guy]

First, this Kennedy is no relation to the crime-riddled family of same name.

Second, a quick lurk around FreeRepublic dredges up the usual suspects of the right-wing floating the conspiracy of this Kennedy = a secret Democrat in disguise (but most Freepers think that about libertarians anyway).

[Mike]

Is the Green Party permanently dead? Why is the third party always some guy who has more in common with the Republicans?

[Brandybuck]

The Green Party is dead because they don't have any principles. Ever since Nader they have been religiously voting Democrat. And I mean religiously. Even in ultra-safe districts like San Francisco, the Green Party is lucky to get 10% of its members voting for its candidates.

When the Democrats say "grab ankles", the Greens say "how much lube?" The truly disgusting thing is that the Teabaggers want the same thing for Libertarians.

[joshua corning]

Somehow i think there is a difference between threatening someone and asking them.

Still i think they should not even ask him to step down. He ran a campaign and put his money and time into let him finish it out.

If brown can't be libertarian enough to get the libertarian votes then he does not deserve them.

[Ross Mann]

You are right let him finish. Scott Brown is very much not a champion of individual freedom I don't know why people think he is change. Different face of the same coin.I've heard same old republican crap from this guy. Based on both parties track records no one should be voting D or R....

[Eric Dondero]

Quoting Far Left rag TPM? Not a very reliable source, I'd say.

Regardless, the best outcome, big Scott Brown victory, combined with a respectable Joe Kennedy, Libertarian showing.

And guess what, final polls show that that's precisely what's gonna happen; Brown by 55%, Kennedy at a good 2%.

That's 57% against Big Government Democrat Martha (or "Marcia" as the other Kennedy, the drunk one calls her) Coakley.

[von Laue]

Dooooooooooooondeeeeeeerooooooooo

[People Power Hour]

No...the best outcome would be a Joe Kennedy victory with both Coakley & Brown being beaten like cheap gongs for being the major party tools that they are.

[Boston]

Donderoooooooooooooooooooo wants the R to win. Some body call off the cotillion, i think i have the vapors. Also Kennedy uses Robocalls? Fuck him.

[James Anderson Merritt]

"Some body call off the cotillion, i think i have the vapors."

Somebody light a match, for God's sake!

[swillfredo pareto]

That's 57% against Big Government Democrat Martha (or "Marcia" as the other Kennedy, the drunk one calls her) Coakley.

You have got to be waaaaay more specific than that.

[Douglas Fletcher]

One humanoid, one vote.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I find more troubling than anything else is that a tea party movement is banding together. That's the first step down that terrible road to becoming a major political party (and the blind partisanship and shameless self-servitude that comes with it).

[Eric Dondero]

That major political party that the Tea Party has become is spelled:

R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N

[tarran]

You mean the Tea Partiers they have abandoned the cause of freedom and embraced a more mercantilist version of fascism?

Shit.

Next they'll be saying things like "the guy who said 'freedom is about obedience to authority' is libertarian" or some other nonsense...

[Brandybuck]

Yup. I tried explaining this to a major Tea Party guy last night, but he didn't understand it. He called me a liar when I told him Glen Beck didn't start the tea parties.

[Some Guy]

The pressure on Kennedy to quit the race is not coming from Brown's truck or the Republican camp, but from Tea Party organizers

So can we go ahead and stop pretending they're libertarians now? Even though I'm on record as saying I'd have to vote for Brown here, that's going way too far.

"Joe Kennedy is the name you can trust"

I think it's quite awesome that he's going with the Distinguished Gentleman election strategy.

[Kiwi Dave]

I know, it's awesome. It's true, too. I would not be at all surprised if it nets out positive for Brown.

[TP]

It seems Ms. LeBlanc was a bit perturbed by Radley AND some of the Reason comments. She felt it necessary to respond in Coakley II

[People Power Hour]

At least her blog is appropriately titled (Bitch Ph.D.); interesting how she tacitly calls for Reason's blogs to be censored so as not to offend her delicate bitch sensibilities....

[BakedPenguin]

Jesus.

"Can we really say that Martha Coakley knew that Amirault was innocent? We can't. We can't say something even less than that, which is that Coakley believed that Amirault was innocent."

No, not at all. Making up evidence, planting stories in small childrens' minds. No, we can't know that Coakley knew she was prosecuting innocent people. After all, Coakley could be insane. We do know, however, that she was behaving in a manner that, in any sensible legal system, would be grounds for disbarment. But LeBlanc still thinks Massachusetts voters should pull the lever for her because she's "progressive".

She even uses the prison system as a reason to vote for Coakley - even after noting that Democrats are often worse than Republicans to "look tough on crime". But blah, blah, progressive unicorns and pixie dust, Coakley will be part of the Obama rainbow team that will magically change "the system". Disadvantaged people will no longer be subject to a bad legal system. Ponies for everyone!

And, no, Dr. Bitch, if you're still reading, these comments aren't moderated. I'll abstain from vulgarity and simply make the observation that perhaps you should change the name of your blog to "Dumb Bitch, Ph.D." Oh, but don't blame me! I'm just part of a commenting system where everyone says bad things! I can't be expected to change!

[mr simple]

Do we get to drink when a statist on another site calls for Reason's comments to be censored? To her free minds only agree with her.
I thought she was doing a decent job of showing the logic (however twisted) behind her argument until she reverted back to the everybody's doing it so it must be okay argument, which falls apart under the slightest scrutiny. Maybe just everyone she wants to vote for does it. Then she perverts the definition of moral relativism so as to give it no meaning. Cunt.

[damaged justice]

Bullspit. The only "tea party response" I've seen warned people not to look at Brown as a superior alternative to Coakley.

[Pat Robertson]

Careful, boys. You know what happened to Haiti.

[Xeones]

That major political party that the Tea Party has become is spelled:

R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N

DONDEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Teddy Freedom]

"Should Libertarian Candidate Make Way For Scott Brown?"

No.

[yonemoto]

"Should Libertarian Candidate Make Way For Scott Brown?"

No, if the republicans really wanted to take down the dems they would have scott brown step down in favor of kennedy, and win by a landslide, and make it more embarassing for the dems to have lost an incumbent seat to a *third party*.

net effect: Zero. Kennedy would probably caucus with the republicans, and he certainly won't vote for the healthcare bill, which is by and large the only meaningful policy difference between the coakley and brown (unless brown reneges on his promise to not care about federal-level abortion laws or marriage laws)

I bet the "unnamed tea party activist" is really a democrat.

[FrBunny]

"I implore you to step aside and encourage your supporter to vote for Scott Brown,"

Your supporter. One guy. Goes by "Dad".

[Attorney]

LOLZ. I came here to post that very thing, pretty much.

[58robbo]

absolutely not! Scott Brown is just another Dubya and there is no way on earth i'd vote for him

[matsuiny2004]

No he should stay in the race. Third part candidates have as much a right to run as any other.

[Death Panelist]

Even... HITLER???

[prolefeed]

Hitler wasn't a third party candidate when he got almost 40% of the vote.

[Colin]

He's the one good candidate in the race. He blew past the others during their debate.

[Fist of Etiquette]

You people just can't bear the idea of a Kennedy not occupying that seat. Chowderslurpers and their "American royalty" craze.

[suckitupcrybaby]

No Kennedy shouldn't step down, he has every right to run in any election he wants to. We just can't leave it to the Dem's and Repub's. Let the best man win! http://www.suckitupcrybaby.com

[Some dude]

His name is Kennedy? That should be good for about 20 points of name recognition right there. Unless he legally has to have "(no relation to Ted Kennedy)" right on the ballot.

[P Brooks]

OMFG! Teh Unmoderated Commentzes!

Run awaaaaaay!

[P Brooks]

We wouldn't need all this government subsidized health insurance if Hitler was on the ballot.

[TP]

The funny thing about the Brown supporters, they're so unbelievably clueless," he (Kennedy) said. "If I withdrew from the race today, my vote would be split 60-40 going to Coakley.

Kennedy said he's the only candidate against government-run health care, because Brown supports former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's version of public health care.

http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....edys-seat/

[Andrew Ian Dodge]

In a word no. Who knows he may even take away from Coakley because of his last name. I think the calls/emails to get Kennedy to pull out are foolish and unhelpful.

[SugarFree]

One of the comments from the Bitch PhD post complaining about our comments:

Someone Who Doesn't Want to Lose His Job
...
As far as I have seen, Reason doesn't moderate the comments at Hit and Run at all, or if they do only in very rare and specific situations, such as posting as one of the Reason staff.

As far as the tone of the comments, that is fairly standard these days at Hit and Run. The comments there used to be funnier and less vicious.

It's a sad day when a brother falls.

[Citizen Nothing]

SF, you really think that's OUR SWDWTLGJ? How sad.

[SugarFree]

It would be a pretty big coincidence if it wasn't. Specific handle formatted the same, "things ain't what they used to be" type complaint, indicating the commenter was familiar with H&R. Although how he got to Bitch PhD... maybe he lurks or still posts under a new handle or he reads The Agitator.

[James Anderson Merritt]

Given that the candidate came by his name honestly and has taken pains to distance himself from the famous political family, I can't begrudge him any advantage that his name gives him. Politics is a dirty business, and trading on a politically attractive name that you are lucky enough to have is about as clean as it seems to get.

[P Brooks]

The comments there used to be funnier and less vicious.

I don't think there was anything undeservedly vicious in those comments; it makes a difference.

Defending Coakley, well that's just like [insert Godwin].

[Bob Smith]

In an election where substantial electoral fraud by Democrats is expected, that 2% for Kennedy could make the difference for Brown. Heck, if the Democrats are smart they give all the fraudulent votes to Kennedy.

[abu_lafia]

I do wish I could vote for a viable Libertarian Candidate. Unfortunately, the DNC and RNC have such a stranglehold on elections, fundraising, and their coverage that I need to vote for Scott Brown. For some issues at least, he does have a record of voting in a manner consistent with my beliefs. This is certainly not true across the board. Coakley on the other hand is consistantly on the other side and my two direct interactions with her and her office have been both unsatisfying and unpleasant. I have been committed to do what little I can to prevent her election.

[Gabe]

Have no fear...I went to a tea party event and I am voting for Kennedy this evening. I hope the loser blames me, but I'll likely be ignored.

[Guy Fawkes]

Hooray! Can't wait for Scott Brown to be elected so we can fight him in the Senate. Is it harder to stop Socialists or Neocons? I can't tell. Can you?

[Abercrombie and Fitch]

good!

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