It's Time For The Tea-Parties To Come Home

21Jan10
Though I believe with all my heart that if implemented, the ideals of the Libertarian party will lead to happiness and prosperity for a majority of Americans, I was feeling disillusioned with the short term viability of a third party as recently as last week.

But now that I've had time to look at Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts special election, my faith that a third party is the right thing to work for is restored.

And then some.

Scott Brown's victory is a direct result of the left wing political machine's underestimation of the independent voter / Tea Party movement. It wasn't about saying no to Democrats or yes to Republicans. It was about saying no to socialism and government interference. About saying yes to liberty and the constitution. The last twenty years of duopoly, big spending, big government politics have taken their toll on the patience of the American voter. Numbers tell the tale.

If you average together voter registration in the 27 states where one registers by party, since 1987 the percentage of voters that identify themselves as Democrats has shrunken from 51% to 43% in the last election cycle. Republicans held more or less steady at 33%. But Independents (everyone not identifying themselves as being a member of the two major parties) grew from just 8% to 24%. A 200% increase.

Opinion polls show 35% of Americans view Democrats in a favorable light, and just 28% say that about Republicans. Yet 41% of Americans favor the Tea Party movement.

Martha Coakley and her cohorts should have read that sentiment. But instead used Brown's Tea Party association to level guilt-by-association attack at him. They said "If Brown wins, Health Care dies." It backfired massively when Brown began to campaign on that, garnering huge Tea Party support. 71% of Independents, almost 2.1 million voters, broke for Brown as a result.

While the Tea Party/Independent sentiment is currently backing one candidate or another in this lesser of two evils game, it's only a matter of time until we get behind another option.

Sarah Palin will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming national tea party in Nashville February 4-6, and the sheer number of people expected at the event is fueling speculation that the a third party could be the result. Part of my activities this year will be to reach out and make connections. I want to talk to those people, and let them know that there's already a home for them.

In the Libertarian party.