Myths about voting Libertarian debunked
© Harry Browne
So what! Your vote is your statement on what kind of government you want. If you vote Libertarian you are making a statement that you are not happy with the way Republicans and Democrats are running our country. You are making a statement that you are REALLY serious about reducing the size of government and removing government interference in the private lives of citizens. If you only vote for Republicans or Democrats these parties have no incentive to change. If one party gets into office they will try to grab as much power as possible both for themselves and for government as a whole. They know that if there are ONLY two choices for voters, even if they lose an election, there will always be another election they can win and return to power. If there is a significant Libertarian vote the Republicans and Democrats may adopt more Libertarian positions to attract those voters.
What is the worst thing that can happen if you vote Libertarian? A Republican or Democrat will win, but the loser will be thinking about how they can get votes from the Libertarians.
What is the worst thing that can happen if you DON'T vote Libertarian? A Democrat or Republican will win and the loser will know that they are the only alternative, they just have to wait a little while until you get sick of the winner, and nothing will change.
Myth 2. If you vote Libertarian the other side will win.
So what! This assumes that voters from only one party are potential Libertarian voters. There are Libertarian issues that attract voters from both Democrats and Republicans. I am a supporter of Second Amendment rights so I usually read the arguments that if people vote Libertarian they will cause pro-gun Republicans to lose and then the Democrats will pass all kinds of terrible gun control laws. The problem with this argument is that if the choice is ONLY between Republicans and Democrats then the Republicans only have to be SLIGHTLY more pro-gun than the Democrats. The Republicans can still pass many laws restricting second ammendment rights all the while claiming that things would be much worse if the Democrats had been elected. You will still lose your Second Ammendment rights, it will just happen a little slower.
If you vote Libertarian you are making a political statement that you don't want ANY more laws restricting your Second Amendment (or insert your favorite cause here) rights. Suppose that only 5% of the voters vote Libertarian. Then the smallest margin of victory would be (to tenths of a percent, neglecting other parties) 47.4% to 47.6%. The party that lost has two choices for the next election, they can try to gain voters from the 47.4% that voted for the other party or from the 5% that voted Libertarian. There are many problems with gaining votes from the 47.4%; patronage, habit, family tradition, etc.. These voters will not be swayed by reason. On the other hand the Libertarian voters have indicated that they want government to change, they are not satisfied with the same old style of government. If the losing party tries to gain Libertarian voters they will have to adopt more Libertarian positions. Thus, even though a Libertarian candidate didn't win a Libertarian vote can influence the direction of BOTH Democrats and Republicans.
