Libertarian Party

Brian Doherty | 5.24.2024 8:01 AM

The nation's political eyes this weekend will be affixed on a spectacle that rarely attracts significant attention: the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, D.C. But instead of coming to watch presidential candidates such as Lars Mapstead, Michael Rectenwald, Chase Oliver, and Mike ter Maat duke it out for the Libertarian Party (L.P.) nomination, journalists will be there primarily to see the presumptive nominee from the Republican Party: former President Donald Trump.

It's certainly unusual for small political parties to invite their most charismatic rivals to come try to steal their voters. (As Trump himself said in the Libertarian Party's press release announcing the speech, "If Libertarians join me and the Republican Party, where we have many Libertarian views, the election won't even be close….WE WILL WORK TOGETHER AND WIN!") The move was controversial among L.P. members and candidates alike.

"I don't think that's good for the party," Chase Oliver says. "It makes it seem like we're the Republican J.V. team."

But the L.P. leadership faction that engineered the stunt, including National Chair Angela McArdle, counter that it has already reaped a nearly unprecedented amount of media attention, bolstering the finances of a party that for the past two years has been bleeding money and membership.

"Convention sales, and donations, have been explosive following the announcement of Trump (and others) since the beginning of this month," said Todd Hagopian, who has been L.P. treasurer since May 2022, via email. Hagopian, who opposed inviting L.P. competitors Trump, President Joe Biden, and the attending independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said that full numbers won't be available until after the convention, but: "Best period of fundraising since I've been on the board."

Trump, scheduled to talk Saturday night from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., has a clear motivation in mind: preventing the Libertarian candidate from beating the spread between him and Joe Biden, as 2020 nominee Jo Jorgensen did in three key states that he lost (Wisconsin, Georgia, and Arizona). So what's in it for the L.P., besides the publicity?

"He's agreed to respond to a list of Libertarian grievances" about his presidential record, McArdle told broadcaster Austin Petersen (who made a bid for the party's 2016 presidential nomination) in early May. Such critiques could include his failures to bring U.S. troops home, reduce spending and inflation, or pardon Julian Assange, she said. (McArdle declined to comment for this article.) The party has been soliciting (along with donations) potential topics of Libertarian interest for Trump to address, with "End the Fed" and "Peace Not War" starting off in a tie for first place, with 13 percent apiece.

How, if at all, the mercurial former president chooses to interact with Libertarians remains a mystery, as does whether the famously fractious conventioneers will listen politely or take this rare opportunity to full-on heckle the once and future Most Powerful Man in the World.

Doubters think it unlikely Trump will acknowledge the unique circumstances, except perhaps for some classic insult comedy aimed at the confused losers who would even consider voting third party when Biden must be crushed. Though there will certainly be Libertarian-specific pitches made by the slate of other outside politicos giving speeches or making appearances, including RFK Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.), and three-time former presidential candidate (once for the L.P., twice for the GOP) Ron Paul.

To many in the L.P. who opposed the move, the Trump booking can be seen as pure cuckery, summoning an alpha male to manhandle their own voters while they watch, impotent and enthralled. The flip side of that notion is exactly what made many thought leaders from McArdle's faction, the Mises Caucus, portray this as the most baller move possible: What real Libertarian would be so weak-willed as to be swayed by a charismatic statist like Trump?

"I can certainly understand that there are a handful of people allergic to relevance, afraid to confront their political opposition, afraid of losing control of the narrative," McArdle told........

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