By Daryl Luna, Editor at:*In Defense of the Constitution*
The Cato Institute has an interesting piece on the libertarian-influenced change that may be coming to the political landscape:
Libertarians Lead the Independent Shift from Obama
The report's authors are quick to point out that many of the independent votes swinging away from the Obama Administration and the Democratically-controlled Congress belong to libertarians who abandoned support for Republicans, disillusioned by the GOP's big government ways, but are now standing against the Obama team for the same reasons.
After pointing to evidence of an emerging libertarian force for change, the authors conclude:
'Libertarians are emerging as a force within U.S. politics. While political leaders such as Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee and media stars like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are icons to a "conservative base," it is not yet clear what political leaders might represent these libertarian voters.
But with candidates working to capitalize on voter angst in the 2010 midterms, there are sure to be many politicians angling to lead this libertarian vote.
The 1994 GOP sweep of congressional elections was dubbed the "Republican Revolution."
If Republicans make big gains in 2010 with libertarian votes, we could be hearing about a "libertarian revolution."'
The Cato Institute also poses this question: "So, if many of these centrist, independent voters are indeed libertarians, why aren't libertarians better recognized?"
The authors wisely observe: 1. The word "libertarian" is still unfamiliar — even to many who hold "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" views. So pollsters rarely use it. 2. Libertarian voters have traditionally been less likely to organize.
These are truly valuable insights.
Read the whole article here.
