The U.S. election results would seem to be a victory for libertarian conservatives and a defeat for social conservatives and neoconservatives.
The defeat of Rick Santorum--the leading social conservative in the Senate, a proponent of "intelligent design theory," and a critic of Darwinism--is dramatic. Consider also the defeat of the aborton ban in South Dakota, the victory of the stem-cell research referendum in Missouri, the victory of the ban on affirmative action in Michigan, the passing of state referenda protecting private property against unreasonable uses of "eminent domain" powers, the resounding rejection of Bush's neoconservative war in Iraq--all of this suggests that conservative voters are unhappy with the agenda of social conservatism and neoconservatism and supportive of limited government securing ordered liberty.
This creates an opportunity for libertarian conservatives to revive the tradition of limited government conservatism and to find support for this in both the Republican and Democratic parties.
I am wondering if this opportunity for Libertarian Conservatives could be found in the Democratic Party. Of course the social or progressive programs that Democrats embrace may be repugnant to Libertarians but the Democrats' radical individualism surely must be attractive to Libertarians.
ReplyDeleteOne of the interesting facts of the election is that conservative secular christians won as Democrats.
Do you see Libertarians moving as a block into the Democratic Party?
Andy Schott
Yes, many libertarian conservatives might decide that a Clintonian Democratic Party is more hospitable to them than a Republican Party dominated by big-government conservatives.
ReplyDeleteBoth the Democratic and Republican parties have "libertarian caucuses" that you can find using Google. Personally, I find the social libertarianism of the Democratic libertarian caucus closer to my liking, although I disagree pretty vehemently with some of their positions. However, given the virtual inevitability of political power remaining concentrated in the hands of the two dominant parties, I will swallow hard and vote for the libertarian Democrats...most of the time.
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