Can the Libertarians Siphon Votes Off From Bush?

[naervod]

It seems to me that the Republicans are leaving their fiscal conservative/small government views out for the garbage man. What I am wondering, is that tomorrow, will the disgruntled small government and fiscal conservatism advocates who formerly voted Republican now vote Libertarian (which supports both small government and fiscal conservatism) and potentially siphon off votes from Bush, much like Nader did (we are not 100% sure he did, but logic implies he probably did) to Gore in 2000?

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[emzie]

Bush is a lot more popular to conservatives than Gore was to liberals. Only the intellectual Republicans (no, that's not an oxymoron) would consider this, but they're more likely to buy into "lesser of two evils" than a 20-year-old college student who voted for Nader.

Votes will be siphoned, yes, but I think Badnarik and Nader will cancel each other out in states where they're both on the ballot. Unfortuantly for Republicans, Nader is off the ballot in most swing states. I know in Ohio, only Badnarik is... and I can imagine him pulling more than 10,000 votes....

 

[IglooDame]

It is certainly possible, and every time a Republican tells me "how can you throw your vote away" I explain to them that Bush threw my vote away by supporting antilibertarian policies. If he wanted the votes from the fiscal conservatives and "civil libertarians" then he should not have proposed a spending-heavy budget and he should have trimmed the FBI's wish list when drafting the Patriot Act.

 

[thestonesfan]

I hope so. In fact, I hope Bush loses because of them. True, Gore losing because of Nader didn't help the Greens any, but they are a fickle bunch who are pretty rabidly anti-Bush.

I sometimes want to punch the people who ask "why are you throwing your vote away?"

 

[insurgent]

That's a likely scenario.

 

[Zamphyr]

I hope so. I voted Libertarian here in NJ, although I don't think they'll get the % to stay on the ballot for the next elections.

 

[thestonesfan]

Libertarians always find a way to make it on the ballot. Badnarik is on twice as many as Nader, I think.

 

[GerrardCapashen]

I hope so, both because I want Kerry to win and also because I am somewhat libertarian myself, except on environmental issues. I really wish the Republicans would live up to their supposed dedication to fiscal responsibility, at the moment they are much worse than the Democrats.

 

[h4ppy]

What about siphoning potential Kerry voters away? Either way I doubt it will happen, today only one person (a fellow libertarian yay) knew what I ment when I said I supported Badnirik.