Vermont Libertarians Speak Their Minds Nation's Largest Third Party Fired Up For 2004 Elections

Author: Kate Doorley

"Small Government, Low Taxes, More Freedom," proclaims the banner atop the Vermont Libertarian Newsletter. These three concepts represent the crux of the Vermont Libertarian Party's (VTLP) platform, which is currently undergoing its mandatory biannual reorganization. The reorganization effort has led the Libertarians to hold meetings and caucuses across the state, including a meeting of the State Committee at Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury last Friday night.

The VTLP has been active in Vermont since the early 1980s and has had moderate success in the past. In 1998, a Libertarian candidate was elected to the Vermont Legislature, and more than 20 Libertarians now hold public office in the Green Mountain State. Though the Libertarian candidates were not successful in their bids for state-wide office in the last election cycle, the VTLP remains dedicated to its political philosophy.

At a fundamental level, the Libertarian philosophy can be described as limited government. As Chair of the Vermont Libertarian Party Brendan Kinney said, "To put it in basic terms, we are fiscally conservative and socially liberal, but do not think the two-party system or any current politicians who also use this label base their views in principle." Libertarian thought, in fact, can been seen in the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties as well.

The Web site for The Advocates, a group dedicated to informing Americans about Libertarianism, reads, "True conservatives tend to be libertarian on economic issues, and true liberals tend to be libertarian on social issues." While Libertarians believe that citizens have the right and responsibility to make decisions for themselves, they also believe that there is a role for government in the lives of individuals. They hold that the duty of government is to protect the rights of citizens and keep the public safe from threats of assault, theft and foreign invasion.

Though Libertarians rarely receive the volume of national press coverage that the Republican and Democratic Parties amass, the Libertarian Party has a national presence. The Libertarian Party ran more than 1,700 candidates on a national level in the 2002 campaigns and approximately 300 Libertarians hold office across the United States.

According to Kinney, the number of candidates running under the Libertarian banner totals more than double the number of candidates for all other third parties in the United States combined. The Party's ideology is propounded by such well-known actors as Kurt Russell, Clint Eastwood and Drew Carey. The nationally-regarded Cato Institute is also a Libertarian think tank.

In the area of environmental legislation, the Libertarian Viewpoint, a newsletter published by the Libertarian Party, calls for laws that would make government officials personally liable for the environmental damage they cause. In addition, they would like to see a repeal of taxes and regulations that discourage free-market environmentalism and a system that would make polluters pay to clean up the areas that they polluted.

Given the situation abroad, foreign affairs have recently come to the forefront as the 2004 election campaigns get underway. Libertarians would like to withdraw all American troops from Iraq and all other foreign nations unless the United States comes under direct attack. They want instead to concentrate on keeping the peace at home.

The National Platform of the Libertarian Party states, "We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention, including military and economic aid, guarantees and diplomatic meddling. We make no exceptions." This policy is a vast departure from the traditional Republican and Democratic standpoints.

The Libertarian Party also greatly departs from the two-party ideals in proposing to eliminate income taxes. The Party proposes to reduce federal expenditures by returning the federal government to its limited constitutional functions and abolishing the Internal Revenue Service. The VTLP states, "Free citizens in a civil society are entitled to keep the fruits of their labor. We oppose all forcible government collection of money and goods from individuals, groups or corporations. The Party deplores the high levels of state and local taxes imposed on Vermonters."

The Party also opposes the government's much-touted War on Drugs and all legislation that restricts what citizens "may smoke, eat, drink or otherwise ingest." It calls the War "a grave threat to individual liberty, to domestic order and to peace in the world."

As with its fellow political parties, the Libertarians are already strategizing for the 2004 election campaigns. In past years, according to Kinney, the party had used a "blitz" strategy, trying to place as many names on the ballots as possible in the hopes of getting one or two candidates elected to office.

For the upcoming election cycle, the party is shifting tracks and planning to concentrate its time, money and energy on a candidate for state-wide office - and one or two for the legislature - in the hopes that they will be more successful in November 2004.

"We are formulating a plan to run a candidate for governor and to meet the requirements for matching campaign funds. We feel a strong statewide candidate could make a significant impact in the upcoming race," said Kinney. "A secondary goal is for our statewide candidate to receive 5 percent of the total vote. Such an accomplishment would qualify the VTLP for major party status under Vermont law."

Whether this program will be successful will depend on the Libertarians' ability to spread their message across the state and make voters think outside the traditional two-party system.