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I feel you on the libertarian shift, especially here in SC, I feel like they've moved to my right when I used to be pretty much in the middle, libertarian-wise. I'm especially troubled by the move away from open borders.
The GOP IS moving toward libertarianism, just not consciously. As I alluded to above, their social conservatism is largely in their older members (who also happen to have the most political power), as they die off, the GOP will inevitably become more socially liberal. Economically, I'm concerned that they will still favor vast military expenditures and regulations favoring big corporations, but I think the change will be an improvement for the country. Basically the Slacker generation is going to take over.
And if we're not just making stuff up, the Democrats have been moving to the right as well. Our left would be the middle in most other countries. Our president is barely to the left of Reagan and our last Republican president was well to Reagan's right.
Simplistically, Democrats are socially liberal/fiscally liberal, Libertarians are socially liberal/fiscally conservative, and Republicans are socially conservative/fiscally conservative. And yes, I know the spending of Republicans puts drunken sailors to shame, but I admit this is simplistic.
So a Republican being fiscally conservative is being a Republican, period. It's what Republicans are supposed to be. To be more libertarian, a Republican needs to be more socially liberal and a Democrat needs to be more fiscally conservative.
And Neocons of whatever party stripe are right out.
The only one I've nearly liked, which means I liked him more than any Democrat or Republican candidate ever, was Gary Johnson. If he had gotten the Republican nomination, I would have voted Republican for president, which I haven't done since Dole.
Are you under the impression that 'subsidy' is a synonym for 'tax break' or 'regulation'?
I think they are on the right side of ethanol subsidies, but they certainly haven't used their clout to end them. They get to have the libertarian opinon without actually risking their income stream.
Quote:The reason Libertarians tend to vote republican is because of strategic voting. The reason the Koch brothers lend their financial support to republican candidate is exactly the same. While the Koch brothers would like to see Libertarian candidates elected, that is not going to happen so they would rather see Republicans instead of Democrats.....so they hold their noses and back Republicans.
The Koch brothers have certainly lobbied to end Ethanol subsidies. I posted a link detailing one attempt. The fact that they haven't been successful in no way means they haven't tried or are not trying now.
Short term, it makes strategic sense to vote for the party most likely to win but still holds the views most important to you even if the party is against some of your other beliefs. The problem is that the bigger party doesn't have to change because it is pretty certain to get your vote.
You might gravitate toward social conservative concepts as most important and vote Republicans because they have some similar views. Another Libertarian might vote Democrat because social issues are more important to them. The end result is that you still have two main parties and not much change.
