I would have lost my shirt. While, as expected, presidential candidate Harry Browne got good and pasted, various statewide races saw Libertarians eating moderate Republicans lunch. In my Washington State, for instance, the Libertarian candidate for Senate got nearly 70,000 votes. This was far greater than Republican squish Sen. Slade Gorton s slim 2,000-vote loss to Real Networks magnate Maria Cantwell. They did well in other Washington statewide elections as well, never coming within striking distance but making their presence felt.
Voting tends to happen along genetic lines, with aversions more strongly ingrained than loyalties.
So I pull the lever for the Dems in spite of it all. To college students and ex-hippies, they can promise to legalize pot. To vaguely anti-corporate voters, the end of business subsidies. To suburban women and unmarried men, legal abortion. This makes them co-belligerents with Republicans if not allies.