What is a Libertarian?

300px|right|Six flavors. A quick tutorial from 2012.
===Freedom and responsibility for all.===
Libertarians firmly believe in our individual right to choose and to accept the accompanying responsibilities of those choices. Libertarians accept and champion the equal rights and responsibilities of all individuals regardless of our approval or disapproval of their personal choices.
Libertarianism is about personal freedom, and the other side of the coin, personal responsibility.
The Libertarian Party is the best party for stressing tolerance and respect for the individual.
Libertarians want to restore hope to our inner cities. Libertarians want to rebuild the ladder of opportunity for America's poor. Libertarians are the party of the future, the party of reform, and the party of hope.
Libertarians often clash with bureaucrats. Bureaucrats want to expand a system that pays off their friends, but has failed our children.
Some believe it is a central responsibility of government to educate the child. But Libertarians generally believe that it is the responsibility of the parents.
Democrats and Republicans who are not satisfied with their parties gravitate to the Libertarian Party.
Libertarians support conservative fiscal views but believes the government should get out of
people's lives.
The media gets some blame for helping to preserve the two-party system.
I absolutely think there is a demand for a third-party philosophy. What we have in the Libertarian Party is the best of both worlds. We espouse the economic freedom of the Republican Party and the personal freedom of the Democratic Party. In general, I see people tending to agree with half of the Republican platform or half of the Democratic platform, but they just keep picking one or the other because they are the only ones in the news and on TV, and that is a major influence on
people.
===Libertarian Party: third-largest in the country.===
In Pennsylvania, 54 Libertarians have been elected to office, mostly in municipal and county party seats, said David Jahn, chairman of the state Libertarian Party Committee.
People have lost faith in the two-party system. There is a growing interest in third parties in general and the Libertarian Party in particular. We are doing our best to try to present candidates that can earn people votes.
===General Libertarian Party statement ===
Founded in 1971, the Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in Pennsylvania and the nation, with over 500 elected and appointed officials currently serving in office nationwide, with more than 50 in Pennsylvania.
Like the Founding Fathers, Libertarians believe that you have a God-given, inalienable right to conduct your life as you see fit, without government interference, so long as you respect the rights and property of others. As a result, Libertarians favor a small, responsible government.
Libertarians agree with the traditional Republican values of economic freedom and low taxes, and with the Democratic values of personal freedom and civil liberties. For more information about the Libertarian Party, the public is invited to call the Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania at (800) R-Rights or www.LpPa.Org, or the National Libertarian Party at (800) Elect-Us or www.Lp.Org.
===Advances in one county in PA===
Third party scores points
In Pennsylvania, Lebanon County's Libertarian Party candidates did score a moral victory by receiving more votes than ever before. Ray Ondrusek and Russ Diamond, the chairman and vice chairman of the county's Libertarian Committee, are the local flag bearers for the party. Both candidates ran for seats in the State House.
:Both Libertarians were trounced. Ondrusek received 1,475 votes, just 7 percent of those
cast. Diamond did slightly better, receiving 3,217 votes, or 16 percent
of those cast. He was a distant third in the congressional race.
At face value, those results would be discouraging. But in the context of past races, they are a significant improvement for the fledgling third party. Ondrusek was encouraged by the results.
:"While it is disappointing that we didn't win, we knew all along that it
would be an uphill struggle," he said. "But if you consider that just
half of one percent of the voters in the county are Libertarian, the
fact that I got almost 17 percent of the vote is pretty good. Not having
a Democrat in the race might have helped us, but lots of them didn't
vote in our race."
==Links==
* Libertarian Party By-Laws from the Allegheny County Libertarian Party
* Anti-social behaviors
* Republicans
* Libertarian Ponderings