Reason.tv: The Long-Term Meaning of the Mid-Term Elections

Just how libertarian is the Tea Party? Do GOP gains in the midterm elections mean voters like Republicans or are angry at Obama? Are any of the newly elected pols serious about cutting spending?

On November 11, 2010, Reason's Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie, authors of next year's The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America, led a freewheeling discussion with The Winston Group's Kristen Soltis and the Institute for Humane Studies' David Kirby about whether we've just witnessed the first act of a Republican revolution, a speed bump on the road back to Democratic power, or the beginning of something truly strange and new in American politics.

Approximately 47.44 minutes.

Shot and edited by Jim Epstein, Meredith Bragg, and Josh Swain.

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Comments

[Suki]

Hello again reason, good morning!

[-]

Tone down the hand gestures honey.

[Pip]

The way that Kristen Soltis holds / works that mic is HAWT!

[CrackertyAssCracker]

Just how libertarian is the Tea Party?

Much more libertarian than the old Republican party, but much less libertarian than the old Tea Party.

Do GOP gains in the midterm elections mean voters like Republicans or are angry at Obama?

yes it does.

Are any of the newly elected pols serious about cutting spending?

about 5% of them probably. Which is a quintipling of old %, and perhaps (allthough probably not) enough to goad all the pols who just want to keep their jobs into doing the right thing some of the time.

[jacob]

Just how libertarian is the Tea Party?

I dunno. I wonder who these people were voting for back in 2008. Where were these folks during Ron Paul's primaries? If such an outpouring of support for the Tea Party made such a difference, why did he get trounced in all the primaries?

[John]

Considering that the results of the 2008 and 2010 elections were polar opposites, I would say they were either voting for hopey and changy or they were staying home. But they sure as hell were not voting for Republicans.

[Realist]

Obama and other socialists for sure.

[Realist]

Obama at 3.5??? That's amazing...he is a minus 3.5!

[Realist]

Kristen says that people are looking to the government/Republicans for solutions....then we're fucked!

[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

With Democrats we're fucked. With Libertarians or other third parties, we're fucked, since they just help Republicans over Democrats or versa vica. The only other option is pick the least nutty candidate in each race who has a chance of winning, lather, rinse, repeat. But please, don't tell me that Democrats are part of the solution.

[Realist]

When spending cuts are mentioned, welfare and food stamps are not. These two need to be eliminated!

[Joshua Corning]

Reason's Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie, authors of next year's The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America

WTF happened to the "Freedom!! Bitches!!" title?

Also if this book was one of the options i would have donated 100$ rather then the 99$ i donated to reason.

[Joshua Corning]

or the beginning of something truly strange and new in American politics.

The tea party is the most strange and new political phenomenon i have witnessed in the US in my life time. Even if they do nothing else they have already established that achievement. Microsoft gives them 10 Xbox points.

[brec]

Just how libertarian is the Tea Party?

I posted this elsewhere on July 14:

Originally the "party" in the "tea party" protests, or movement, was clearly a reference to the Boston Tea Party of 1773. But then some commentators replaced the sense of "party" as social gathering ?birthday party; tea party?with that of a formal political organization?Republican Party; Communist Party. Now we often see references to "the Tea Party," a non-existent political organization.

[Robert]

You beat me to it. A transition was made between considering each event to be a Tea Party and there being one or more organiz'ns (which do exist now, though not as political parties in most cases) as the Tea Party, with members instead of participants or attendees. This terminology invites greater generaliz'n on the part of observers, more than is justified IMO.

Hence the disconnect between polls identifying persons as in some way "of the" Tea Party and the poll of tea party attendees (or "Tea Party protest" attendees) as analyzed by the person in the video. I think they're distinct albeit overlapping phenomena.

[Brian from Texas]

I was reading a news story earlier today that reminded me about how the GOP took a beating in the 1982 mid-terms and the Democrats taking a serious blow in 1994. Yet that didn't stop Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton from becoming two-termers. Two years is a long time in politics and history can repeat itself.

[Michael Ejercito]

I was reading a news story earlier today that reminded me about how the GOP took a beating in the 1982 mid-terms and the Democrats taking a serious blow in 1994. Yet that didn't stop Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton from becoming two-termers. Two years is a long time in politics and history can repeat itself.

It depends on how Presidents handle themselves.

[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

Yup. Shouldn't surprise anyone. Anyone who reads a newspaper now and then should check their wishful thinking at the door. In that vein, I worry about people.

[yambles]

What the fuck is a libertarian-democrat?

[Joshua Corning]

What the fuck is a libertarian-democrat?

A Republican that smokes pot.

[Joshua Corning]

An idiot who thinks China has a better government then the US.

[Joshua Corning]

Pro-abortion advocate who once saw Milton Friedman's series on PBS thought it made sense at the time but now confuses wall street greed with preserve intensives manufactured by government sponsored enterprises and thinks a 1.4 degree rise in global temperatures and a 1 foot rise in sea levels over a hundred year period will kill 50 million people and cause a mass extinction of 80% of the worlds wild life.

[yambles]

Yeah, I figured as much. All 3 of these made me laugh.

[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

That's the best looking pollster I've seen in while. BTW, A libertarian Democrat is a level headed person with serious issues.

[Joshua Corning]

Welch is a GIANT!!!

Also what was that "Don't clap for Nick" thing?

[Tanya]

I like Matt's boots. Very spiffy.