Libertarian Party

[[Image:Libertarian Party Porcupine (USA).svg|right|thumb|165px|Mr. Prickles here represents the Libertarian Party during election time.]]
{{cquote|To all that were attracted to the Libertarian Party by my 2020 candidacy: I am sorry. It has become a terrible dumpsterfire of a shitshow. I regret my involvement in such a non functional embarrassment full of paleo dipshits, pedo apologists, and culture war fuckwads.|||[[Vermin Supreme]], former Libertarian Party presidential nominee<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/former-libertarian-presidential-candidate-torches-party-1779962 Former Libertarian Presidential Candidate Torches Party], Nick Reynolds, ''Newsweek'' 8 February 2022</ref>}}
{{cquote|The abhorrence of child abuse is woven into the universal moral fabric. Libertarianism (and politics, in general) cannot solve every moral problem and it should not be used to solve every moral problem.|||Libertarian Party Chair using a bizarre choice of words<ref>https://archive.ph/yTxil#selection-515.0-515.203</ref>}}
{{uspolitics}}
The US '''Libertarian Party''' was founded in 1971<ref>http://www.lp.org/organization/history.shtml</ref> and claims to be based on the principles of [[libertarianism]].  The party's National Chair in 2024 endorsed [[Republican Party|Republican nominee]] [[Donald Trump]],<ref>https://archive.ph/wip/tuOjv</ref> has argued for insurrection in support of Trump,<ref>https://archive.ph/cbS2h</ref> promotes mass exodus from her party<ref>https://archive.ph/WBGw9</ref> and is openly homophobic.<ref>https://archive.ph/sBSAK</ref>  In recent years, it is unclear to party members and the general public the degree to which they are a fusion party masquerading as an independent party or are actually committed to being an independent political party.

The Libertarian Party has been one of the larger minor political parties<ref>[http://www.lp.org/introduction/americas-third-largest-party Well, that's what they say!]</ref> in [[America]]. They claim to be active in all 50 states, and threaten to sue state parties who want to dissolve (which happens more often than you'd think).  They have more than 280,000 registered voters, or... 0.1% of the United States eligible voting population.<ref>[http://www.ballot-access.org/2012/02/28/february-2012-ballot-access-news-print-edition/ As of Feb. 2012]</ref> (In fairness, it's just a mathematical fact that under First-Past-the-Post all systems will trend towards two-party.) No party spokesman has addressed the [[irony]] of a group of alleged individualists pooling their efforts to join an [[government|entity they despise]]. In the 2020s, the Libertarian Party started to shift [[Conservative|far harder right]] after the Mises Caucus took control.<ref>[https://reason.com/2022/05/29/mises-caucus-takes-control-of-libertarian-party/ Mises Caucus Takes Control of Libertarian Party] Doherty, Brian. ''Reason''. 29 May 2022.</ref>

Libertarians Party members skew right-wing and socially conservative.  Numerous party splinters have emerged for the tiny liberal base of the party that has been shedding the party like mad.

==Current status==
[[File:Nolan chart.png|thumb|left|The two-variable Nolan chart]]

===2007 elections===
In the 2007 Elections, Libertarian Party candidates won 14 elective offices, including an election for mayor of Avis, [[Pennsylvania]]  (population 1,492).<ref>[http://www.lp.org/ Official Website of the Libertarian National Committee]</ref>

===2008 presidential nominating process===
Several candidates sought to become the party's [[2008 US Presidential Election|2008]] presidential nominee. [[Mike Gravel]] changed from the [[Democratic Party]] to the Libertarian Party.  [[Bob Barr]], a former [[Republican]] U.S. Congressman, announced on May 12, 2008, that he would seek the nomination.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/12/politics/p062145D40.DTL "Barr launches Libertarian White House bid"]</ref>  The final choice of Bob Barr (and his running mate, [[Wayne Allyn Root]]) was made at the 2008 national convention in Denver, [[Colorado]] in late May.  

[[Ron Paul]], who was the party's 1988 candidate, had been mentioned as a possible nominee as well, but has officially denied any intent to run under any third-party banner.  On December 12, 2007, the Party adopted a resolution requesting Paul to run on the Libertarian ticket if he does not win the [[Republican Party]] nomination.<ref>[http://www.smallgovtimes.com/story/07dec10.libertarians.paul/index.html Libertarians want Paul back].  Libertarian Party resolution as reported by SmallGovTimes.com. 12-12-2007.</ref>

===2012 elections===
[[Gary Johnson]], former governor of [[New Mexico]], ran with running mate Jim Gray on the top of the Libertarian ticket.<ref>http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/front</ref> Johnson received slightly over 1 million votes, or about one percent.<ref>[http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/07/gary-johnson-pulls-one-million-votes-one Reason:Gary Johnson Pulls One Million Votes, One Percent]</ref>

===2016 election===
*'''John McAfee''', a filthy-rich burn out psycho with an endearing amount of honesty but little understanding of the government's complexity. ([[Donald Trump|Trump]] on steroids.) He'd be the best for getting name recognition up, if only because he could generate the most bizarre headlines. On the other hand, he'd be the worst for winning over anti-Trump Republicans for the same reason.
*'''Gary Johnson''' would be the best for actually winning over Independents...but he's basically a Republican. He's what white bread conservatives become when they go to college. Still, he could do worse. ''Update'': But remember, cakes were the most important issue of the 2016 campaign. It is better to vote for [[2016_U.S._presidential_election#I_just_got_a_nomination.2C_but_I_got_high|someone who isn't libertarian at all]] than someone who deviates from libertarianism on one issue.
*'''Austin Peterson''' is pretty much any rando you've met on [[Reddit]]. His argument style is literally repeating libertarian memes.<ref>http://www.dailywire.com/news/6176/top-7-moments-libertarian-party-debate-aaron-bandler</ref> "Muh roads! Where we're going, we don't need roads! Because we will have jetpacks!"{{onion}} If Libertarians want to be a party of internet trolls, vote Petersen.

Johnson has stated that he will run again in 2016, "as long as he's relevant,"<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/libertarian-candidate-gary-johnson-open-running-president-again-020519571--election.html Yahoo! News: Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson open to running for president again in 2016]</ref> whatever that may mean. Some reports had him running for the GOP nomination and, if unsuccessful, seeking the Libertarian Party nomination in a replay of 2012. Considering Johnson's relative level-headedness compared to the mainstream GOP, his support of gay and immigration rights, and love for pot, this is likely to happen. If he can gain one percentage point, he is on track to win the general election by 2412 with a literal Ron Paulbot as his running mate.

===2020 election===
For the [[2020 US presidential election]], several people threw their lot in for the Libertarians, the most notable among them being former Republican and anti-war activist [[Adam Kokesh]], boot-headed [[perennial candidate]] [[Vermin Supreme]], and the nutty, tax-evading inventor of antivirus software [[John McAfee]].<ref>{{wpa|2020 Libertarian Party presidential primaries}}</ref> Jo Jorgensen was the 2020 Libertarian Party Presidential nominee.<ref>https://www.c-span.org/video/?473574-3/libertarian-party-presidential-nomination-acceptance-remarks</ref>

===2024 election===
During 2024, the party nominated a salesperson and activist named Chase Oliver. Because of the fact that Chase Oliver is openly gay, this obviously [[Homophobia|didn’t go over well]] with the paleoconservative Mises Caucus wing of the party, with many attempting to smear him as "woke" and opting to support [[Donald Trump]] instead. This included LP chair Angela McArdle who only supported Chase Oliver as a "vehicle to take votes away from Democrats to help Trump win". 

In another controversial move, Angela McArdle and the Mises Caucus-controlled leadership started a Joint Fundraising Committee with [[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]] despite him miserably losing in the first round of presidential nominations at the convention and having few if any libertarian values. This move angered many anti-Mises Caucus members of the party who alleged that it was an attempt to sabotage Chase Oliver.

Chase Oliver ultimately came in fifth place during the 2024 general US presidential election, behind [[Jill Stein]] in third and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in fourth. Disappointed in finishing below someone who dropped out, Oliver blamed the party for a lack of support.  

The Libertarian Party had been continuously disintegrating since their 2016 nominee failed to identify Aleppo, [[Syria]] during the Syrian refugee crisis and their convention featured an [[obese]] stripper. At this point, thanks to the Mises Caucus takeover the party is just a satellite affiliate of the Republican Party, with the national chair more or less endorsing Trump over her own nominee.

==Mises Caucus takeover==
===Origin===
In the wake of the [[Unite the Right]] riot in 2017, then-Chair Nicholas Sarwark wrote an open letter denouncing fascism and racism, and asking racists to stay away from the Libertarian Party. This enraged a group of Libertarians affiliated with the [[Mises Institute]], who denounced Sarwark's statement as "woke" and went on to found the Mises "Caucus" (which is actually a PAC). The PAC made many allies with the alt-right over the next few years, including [[Nick Fuentes]], [[League of the South]] co-founder Tom Woods, and Hotep Jesu, and gradually took control of several state affiliates as well as winning a handful of seats on the National Committee.<ref>[https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/libertarian-gop-alt-right/ The Nation: The Libertarian Party Goes Alt-Right]</ref> They also drew headlines for extremist posts on social media, including advocating for child labor, celebrating the anniversary of the death of [[John McCain]] by tweeting "Happy holidays" accompanied by a picture of his daughter crying over his coffin, and one by the Delaware affiliate which appeared to advocate throwing [[transgender]] people into woodchippers. 

===Hijacking of the party===
In the leadup to the party's National Convention on Memorial Day weekend 2022, observers both within the party and out expressed concern that the Mises Caucus would take control of the entire Party, including an expose from the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]].<ref>https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/05/25/mises-caucus-could-it-sway-libertarian-party-hard-right SPLC Expose]</ref> Those concerns proved founded as Mises-endorsed candidates won every seat on the National Committee and succeeded in repealing a platform plank condemning bigotry as "irrational and repugnant", on the grounds that such a statement was "divisive" and would discourage people from joining.<ref group=note>They didn't specify ''who'' this would discourage from joining, but we suspect it was all their racist friends.</ref> This led to the departure of numerous long-time members who were relatively sane, or at least not raging bigots, and the attempted disaffiliation by state affiliates in New Mexico and Virginia, to which the Mises-backed National Committee responded "Actually, we're disaffiliating ''you''" to the former and "You're affiliated with us whether you like it or not" to the latter.<ref>[https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2022/10/11/libertarian-party-loses-state-parties-donors-after-hard-right-turn SPLC October 2022 Followup]</ref> The Libertarian Party has skidded off the rails since then, even compared to its previous standards, openly embracing the alt-right, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Semitism, and driving off any previous members who did not stand for those things. Meanwhile, the new Chair is a [[sovereign citizen]] and a proponent of [[German New Medicine]], a pseudoscience/conspiracy theory that states that all modern medicine is a conspiracy by Jews to kill non-Jewish patients. 

===Republican Party involvement===
Throughout its existence some have alleged that the Mises Caucus is a Republican backed operation to destroy the Libertarian Party. This theory would basically be proven true at the 2024 National Convention, the first run under new leadership, presidential candidates [[Donald Trump]] and [[Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.]] (neither of whom are members of the Libertarian Party) were both invited to speak, drawing national media attention but creating fierce controversy within the party.<ref>[https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4683041-donald-trump-rfk-jr-robert-f-kennedy-jr-libertarian-national-convention-joe-biden/ Trump-RFK Jr. feud comes to a head at Libertarian convention] The Hill</ref> Much to the dismay of Chairwomen McArdle and the Mises Caucus, Donald Trump’s speech at the Libertarian National Convention gained viral attention because of the unusually negative reception he received. Throughout Trump’s speech many libertarian activists booed and heckled him. The most negative reaction happened when Trump (clearly not understanding how political parties work) attempted to ask the Libertarian Party to nominate himself for President.<ref>[https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/25/panderer-libertarians-jeer-trump-at-their-convention-00160023]</ref>

===Disavowal of their own nominee===
After Chase Oliver won the 2024 Libertarian presidential nomination, many of the Mises Caucus leadership spent the rest of the election cycle smearing Oliver as "Woke" (basically for being openly gay) and alluding that they would vote for Donald Trump (basically proving that the "Mises Caucus are GOP plants" theory to be correct).

===Aftermath and splintering===
In January 2025 Angela McArdle resigned as chair of the LNC after it was revealed that she embezzled party money to her domestic partner. McArdle claimed she was resigning to accept a job at the Trump administration, however she has yet to be seen working for the administration.<ref>[https://www.rawstory.com/angela-mcardle/]</ref>

The new chair, Steven Nekhaila, has ties to the Mises Caucus, being part of their "endorsed slate" of candidates in the past, but received more votes than the literal head of the Mises Caucus.  The latest chair has acknowledged his party is in a death spiral.  As the Libertarian Party moves more socially conservative, [[Elon Musk]] has promoted forming an "America Party" that is more socially liberal than the Libertarians but also fiscally conservative.  A similar party was also formed earlier by those in the Libertarian Party disgusted by recent moves in the LP, who in turn formed the [[Liberal Party (US LP splinter)|Liberal Party]].

==Polls==
The Libertarian Party website also has some polls for its members, with results that can turn out only slightly saner than [[WND]] polls.

*"The White House is starting a media war against [[Rush Limbaugh]]. What does [[Obama]] hope to distract attention from?" Highest result (48%; 1491 votes): "[[Austrian School|Economic research]] showing Obama’s spending plan prolongs the recession and eliminates jobs"<ref>http://www.lp.org/poll/the-white-house-is-starting-a-media-war-against-rush-limbaugh-what-does-obama-hope-to-distract-</ref>
*"What is the cause of "[[global warming]]"?" Highest result: (47%; 249 votes): "Cycles of nature"<ref>[http://www.lp.org/poll/what-is-the-cause-of-global-warming Less than a quarter believe it's manmade]</ref>
*"How should we deal with the financial problems of the [[Social Security]] system?" Highest result: (53%; 2392 votes): "We should completely get rid of Social Security."<ref>[http://www.lp.org/poll/how-should-we-deal-with-the-financial-problems-of-the-social-security-system You'll get the elderly vote any day now]</ref>
*"Is human-generated global warming a myth?" Highest result: (56%; 220 votes): "Yes"<ref>[http://www.lp.org/poll/is-human-generated-global-warming-a-myth They had to be sure it wasn't real apparently]</ref> 
*"Should we go back to the [[gold standard]]?" Highest Result: "No"... Just pulling your leg, it was actually "Yes" with 64% of the vote (194 votes).<ref>http://www.lp.org/poll/should-we-go-back-to-the-gold-standard</ref>
*"Do you believe people have a "right" to healthcare?" Highest result: "[[Social Darwinism|No]]" with 59% of the vote (547 votes)<ref>http://www.lp.org/poll/do-you-believe-people-have-a-right-to-healthcare</ref>
*"Do you consider Obama to be a "[[socialist]]?" Highest Result: Take a wild guess.<ref>[http://www.lp.org/poll/do-you-consider-obama-to-be-a-socialist "Yes" with 65% of the vote (856 votes), if you were really curious]</ref>

==Quotes==
* {{cquote|Leftists are really mad about the Libertarian view on child labor.|||Libertarian Party Chair<ref>https://archive.ph/yTxil#selection-515.0-515.203K</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[Ron Paul]] - A Lifetime Member. Paul is irrefutably a huge racist and conspiracy nut, and [[Rand Paul|Rand]] has embraced his father's legacy by showing up on [[Alex Jones]], opposing the [[Civil Rights Act]], and hiring numerous racist staffers.
* [[Tea Party]]
* [[Nathan Larson]] - Former Libertarian Party candidate

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|90%}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
{{USPoliticalParty}}
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:Libertarianism]]
[[Category:Classical liberal political parties]]
[[Category:United States political parties]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Crank magnetism]]

Categories: Antisemitism, Libertarianism, Classical liberal political parties, United States political parties, Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, Crank magnetism