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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Do Rightists Dominate The LP?

It remains reality-impaired to claim that "rightists dominate" the LP. Consider:

1. Barr and Root together claimed only 45% of the first-ballot votes in Denver, and a swing of only 25 votes (4%) on the final ballot would have given the nomination to Ruwart.

2. The Denver delegates overwhelmingly approved a repaired platform that achieves excellent left-right balance.

3. A majority of the Denver delegates voted against deleting the extremist 2006 pro-choice plank, and then a 2/3 supermajority approved replacing it with an equally extremist pro-choice plank.

4. The Denver delegates passed the following resolution with the requisite 2/3 approval: "Whereas the war in Iraq was sold to the American people based upon lies, exaggerations, and half-truths; Whereas the war in Iraq was prosecuted for the private interests of the administration and its cronies, was not and is not in the interests of the national security of the United States, we call for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq as quickly as can be safely accomplished."

I know of no prominent LP leader -- officer, nominee, or close contender for same -- proposing any specific ideological testing of party leaders. While it's useful to periodically call the bluff of the few random party members who occasionally complain about the lack of such testing, there's no need to beat that horse after confirming it's still dead.