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Presidential race 2012

Libertarian Nick Gillespie on Why the GOP Lost in 2012

Gillespie gives a quick – but representative – expression of libertarian thinking on where the GOP went wrong. There was much about which to disagree over Pres. Obama’s policies, but in the three areas Gillespie mentions, a decidedly more libertarian direction (truly smaller, less intrusive government) would have helped Republicans. As for social conservatism, profound…

The Debates & Predictive Markets

I follow the presidential predictive markets from Intrade and the Iowa Electronic Markets from the University of Iowa. One can watch how shares are bought and sold, in response to debate performances or any other campaign-related developments. The aftermath of the first debate saw Gov. Romney’s share price rise; Pres. Obama’s shares are seeing a…

Which Romney for Wisconsin?

In January, looking ahead to Wisconsin’s big political year, I thought that Gov. Walker would be recalled in June, and Gov. Romney would win both Wisconsin and the presidency in November. The first prediction was well off-the-mark. (Gov. Walker actually did better in 2012 than he did in 2010.) The November contest is yet ahead,…

Gingrich ‘Endorses’ Romney

In his oh-so-humble way.  Maybe, with high-quality, major-party candidates like this, there’s hope for libertarians in the fall: “I think you have to at some point be honest with what’s happening in the real world, as opposed to what you’d like to have happened,” Gingrich said. “Governor Romney had a very good day yesterday. He…

Not fear, but principled opposition, from libertarians to Rick Santorum

Smart, conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin asks Why are libertarians afraid of Santorum? Our resolute opposition to his conservatism comes not from fear, as though irrational, but instead from our own liberty-oriented principles. (Rubin crafts her post title carefully to frame the discussion most favorably to Santorum.) David Boaz of Cato answers her question in the…