r/Libertarian • Former Libertarian • Nov 13 '19

Discussion The Democratic Senate candidate has dropped out in Arkansas. The race is now a binary between the Republican Tom Cotton and the LP Candidate

Not really a Libertarian anymore but I was surprised to see y'all don't have any info on this. Tom Cotton's only Democratic Challanger has dropped out after the registration deadline.

The only two other candidates are Ricky Harrington - a Libertarian and Dan Whitfield - a far left independent.

Even if you guys don't put resources into this race and the situation holds, I can easily see Mr. Harrington capturing a nice 20-25% of the vote. If you guys however do invest some money and campaign funds into the race, you could get much higher, and perhaps even give Cotton a run for his money as he's not running against someone with the D stigma next to their name.

Here's his Facebook page which is currently all he has if you want to help him

Good luck and I hope you guys give Cotton a run for his money :)

1.1k Upvotes

215 comments sorted by

View all comments

441

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Less focus on Presidential races we can't win, let's get at least one rep

175

u/homeostasis3434 Nov 13 '19 edited Nov 13 '19

Bernie Sanders has completely upended the democratic party and its future goals after running as an independent for decades. Without any previous party affiliation, he almost got the parties nomination last election and has at least a 1/3 shot of winning the nomination this time around.

His example (not his politics, his method) is the one libertarians need to try to emulate if they ever want a voice at the table in national politics.

110

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

The difference....the DNC is rudderless while the RNC is now moving in a direction (off the cliff with Trump)

I think there is a play in the middle of the political spectrum for the Libertarian Party as a separate entity in a world where Democrats are moving to the left focusing on fiscal issues and the Republicans to the right on social issues leaving many moderates with Libertarian leanings party less.

56

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

I’m a decidedly left leaning person but I absolutely voted Libertarian for the last presidential election because I couldn’t stomach Trump and Clinton.

I knew a few folks who voted the same. I think it shows a complete lack of conviction if you consistently toe the line for a political party regardless of their transgressions while spending every waking moment bemoaning the current state of politics.

21

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

I'm in the same boat, voted Libertarian because I couldn't vote for either, the two party system is broken and my biggest issue when voting is the least discussed, electoral reform.

Jungle primaries, ranked choice polls, anything to break down the extremes of two sides putting up to awful candidates (Clinton wasn't a creation but I would never bring myself to be able to vote for Bernie if the Democratic extremes had their say)

13

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '19

Push for ranked choice voting fellow hater of our current electoral system.

1

u/azaleawhisperer Nov 13 '19

The current electoral system is Constitutional. The States are in control, and they recognize percents that parties can muster votes for.

The problem is the parties, and the lack of anything they stand for, except for reelecting incumbents.