CW writes: I was recently referred to your blog by a friend, and within a month’s time I have decided to vote Libertarian…. Reading your commentary, and that of your readers, really caused me to examine the freedom over security question. The lack of any significant Democrat legislation being passed in the last 20 years indicates to me that we are essentially living the Republican party platform. With exceptions, obviously, but on the whole I think that is the case.I also look at the fact that Nader has raised $600,000 in a month, and has clear support from many on the left. I cannot abide in the left being the principled wing of the political spectrum, and that also helped in my decision.
The Libertarian candidates are anonymous. This is not what you want in Presidential nominees…. Jesse Ventura owed his Governor seat to the KQ morning show. You and your blog could have a similar sway on the national stage. Your thoughts?
First, let me say that I’m delighted that people like CW are coming here with open minds, then being converted into Libertarian pod people. The plan, it’s working, it’s working….. (Anyone remember Day of the Tentacle? It was the only game Chiliette ever liked – she played it obsessively – but the part that amused me most was when the hero looked at a little plan drawn up on a white board by the evil Purple Tentacle, entitled, Plan To Take Over the Whole World, and mused, “uh oh, that just might work.”) Anyhow, I’m pleased that people are visiting here and occasionally running across something that makes them think.
But let’s do the math. Jess Ventura, with a major radio show on the main AM station in the state’s only major metropolitan area, managed to scrape by and win the governorship in a state of 6 million people. This blog has 1500 hits per day, which realistically means that about somewhere between 150 and 500 people are reading it regularly, out of 150 million voters. In other words, I’m several orders of magnitude below where I’d need to be to even begin having an influence at a national level. A lot more people read my Monday column, of course, but still, I’m pretty much unknown even in the blog world. It’s not impossible, to be sure, but we’ve got a long, long way to go before we get there. But the technological imperative is on our side and that’s always nice.
Regardless, I’m having fun. My thinking continues to be sharpened by everyone’s comments and emails, which is something that I value very much indeed. I don’t know if I’ll ever catch up with Instapundit, much less a Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh, but that’s not particularly important to me. What is important is that one by one, people like CW have the chance to consider ideas that they might not have encountered before. So, CW, do thank your friend for me.