It is not unreasonable for a Libertarian to support Barack Obama.

It is unreasonable for anybody to support a politician who not only disagrees on more than half (Most economic issues) issues, but holds entirely different philosophies than them. Barak Obama is fundamentally opposed to Libertarianism, and while if you look hard enough on some issues he might agree with the Libertarian Party, he totally disagrees with the entire core of the party, fundamental human rights. He is not for the right to bear arms, something that as all Libertarians understand can not be taken away. He opposes, thus, Life, Liberty, and Property- the very notion of Negative Liberty that Libertarianism is built on. He supports subsidizing health care costs, which last I checked is not at all a Libertarian policy. Competition is not fair competition if the government is involved 'helping' some people along, furthermore, the current system of health insurance is in no way competitive- that's why it costs so much money to run it. Below are proofs that Obama is in total disagreement with much of the policies of the LP -he defended the New Deal social welfare policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt, associating Republican proposals to establish private accounts for Social Security with Social Darwinism -- The new deal was a policy of socialism, it was essentially a quiet socialist revolution. -Obama stated that he opposed education vouchers for use at private schools because he believes they would undermine public schools. -- Vouchers are something Libertarians and economic conservatives would use as a negotiation, a compromise between a socialized school system and a free market one. Obama does not support this, as he wants to keep his government monopoly in check. This is contradictory to the views of Libertarians. - He has energy policies that are in favor of government subsidization of 'alternative' fules. He also wants to force auto-makers to have 50MPG cars (min) by 2030. (NOTE: he also plans to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2050- something that would take a huge hit on our economy, but something that he can't realistically achieve now.) - Obama supports, to some extent, socialized health care. Socialization of private industries contradicts Libertarianism. - Obama supports heavy taxation of the rich, something that when done in europe forced hard working Europeans to flea. - Obama ignorantly supports a plan so that all employees at wal-mart will be able to live as if they were upper middle class citizens, allowing them to pay for their childrens college and their retirement- assuming a permanent job at walmart. Not only is this idealistic, it is absolutely impossible. The only way for him to attempt to realize this would be to raise minimum wage more so than it is already. - Obama supports a border fence, blocking people from coming into our country is not a Libertarian policy, and those Libertarians who support tough immigration policies only do so because of people like Obama, who would like us to live in a socialist utopia. - Obama's foreign policy is very similar to that of Bush, however he supports going to war in different parts of the world- such as in Iran or to some extent Darfur. -Obama supports the ADA, as well as other policies that unfairly force businesses to keep up with strict, impossible regulation just in case somebody with a disability might come into their shop. - Obama is very anti-gun, supporting the sale of almost all guns. Clearly, violating the constitution and one of the important foundations of Libertarianism is anti-libertarian and anti-liberty. This very issue is enough to not support him for President. - Obama is in support of the 2006 version of the Patriot Act, which he voted for. He also said that he would support a law banning the burning of flags. Clearly he does not support the Libertarian cause, but his policies go so far against the causes of Libertarianism, especially as defined by the LP (which you claim to be a member, or at least in support of) that it is impossible to honestly vote for him and call yourself a Libertarian without staring hypocrisy in the face. Given this radical disagreement, it is not reasonable to support somebody, who although might support some individual views you might support, goes against your entire philosophy, your entire outlook. Obama, rather than moving Libertarian principles forward will move them backward. Supporting Obama as a Libertarian simply shows that you have little respect for Liberty, and that you are willing to trade off liberty for mild agreement and popularity, rather than supporting a candidate who will actually help the Libertarian cause.