Roll call for Libertarians (Denver: work, health, move)

[COflower]

No really, I mean there's a "roll call" for Colorado democrats (hey we do have a democrat for a governor)

So where are the closeted Libertarians?

You aint a republican or a democrat? I wasn't either until I learned about the Libertarians.

Oddly the libertarian movement started in DENVER of all places but yeah. If you were like me, not into politics because none really spoke to you, please see their website: Official Website of the Libertarian National Committee

Oddly, if McCain can make it (keeps fingers crossed - no really) were to make the cut I would vote for him in a second. My other choice is Ron Paul as he is a libertarian in Republican clothes but McCain falls closer to the libertarian ideals than any of the other candidates out there.

I HATE the war in Iraq but now that we are there, we have to finish whatever Bush thought we needed to do there. I think McCain is the only true candidate that get us out of there in a manner that makes sense.

It goes against all my libertarian ideals but he really is ideal to lead our country right now. Please read up on him even though I am trying to promote my libertarian principles...he's the only chance to get towards it. Ron Paul is a good guy and a libertarian but not a chance of electibility.

A girl's got to be realistic.

Wow, where did that all come from? Hehe.

[Mike from back east]

Moderator Speaking: Keep this thread focused on ONLY Colorado Libertarian issues. General / national issues of Libertarians belong in the Politics & Other Controversies forum or the 2008 Presidential Election forum. Thank you.

Nice post. I like quite a few of the concepts. Do the LIBs have a caucus like the DEMs?

s/Mike

[COflower]

Hey Mike - Sorry if it was too general...I am totally focusing on Colorado people though. If I could make it more so, I totally would.

Anyhow, becasuse of the political process in Colorado, there are only two recognized parties, Democrats and Republicans despite the fact that libertarianism was bred here.

For those of us in El Paso county we can easily register as Libertarian but in other counties around the state not so easy as you are either republican or democrat or independent...other parties are not looked well upon in other areas of the state.

You know, as much as C Springs is conservative and many poopoo it, I gotta give them props for accepting my "libertarian" as a political party. I don't know why they do it but yeah, outsdie of Bruce (who is sadly - a tard but I wont go into that - a person that is actually a libertarian that went repub back in the day --- he does not represent our party - no really)

Anyhow, we can't vote unless we affiliate ourselves wtih dems or repubs. IIRC, even independents can't have a vote in our state and we have a HUGE independent population. I was shocked when I found out that my dad (who by all definitions is a staunch republican) is an independent.

I'd like to see what the population of Colorado is an independent and see if they fit the critira (sp) for becoming a libertarian....oh, where'd that come from?

;-)

If you register as an independent, I am in the thought process that you can't vote until the general elections...meaning if you don't verify that you are democrat or republican, you can't have a say in the caucuses. I could be very wrong but as a libertarian, and registered as such, they say I can't have a say in the caucuses. So says my El Paso County notices.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by COflower

Hey Mike - Sorry if it was too general........

No, not at all.

As Mod, I need to keep things focused and sometimes set a few ground rules for ensuing discussion/debate. It's especially important for political matters as these are hot button issues with many people. What makes it touchy is that there's no single perfect answer to solving an issue or taking advantage of an opportunity that faces our nation; there are many ways to skin the cat and the different approaches of several political parties on the same topic may all be workable or valid. General statements of all the parties say they want a strong, healthy, prosperous nation, yadda yadda; the rub comes in the "how-to" part, and it's that rub, that friction, which makes political debate fractious and loud. Thus the need to put limits and boundaries on our discussion, keeping it within the realm of the Colorado perspective, else we take it to P&OC.....

[oberon]

Libertarian here. I lean to the left somewhat on economics.

The National Convention is being held in Denver this year, on May 22-26: 2008 Libertarian Party National Convention

Here's the site for the state party: http://www.lpcolorado.org/

There is a Facebook group for Colorado Libertarians, which its meetings mainly in Arapahoe County, but is intending to have further ones in other parts of the Denver area. See: Login | Facebook

There is a meetup group for Colorado Libs: Colorado Libertarians (Denver, CO) - Meetup.com - it seems to be based in Arapahoe County as well.

I have not personally done much with any of these groups, so I don't know how closely related they are. I believe the meetup & facebook groups are the same group though.

So far as I know, it's actually possible to register as a libertarian in Colorado, but most county clerks will give you trouble. I personally haven't tried, so I am registered as an unaffiliated voter instead. I think Colorado should change its closed primary policy. I suppose it makes sense from the party's perspective, but the goal is to get someone elected by all voters... what better way to judge that than to have open primaries?

[COflower]

Originally Posted by oberon

Libertarian here. I lean to the left somewhat on economics.

So far as I know, it's actually possible to register as a libertarian in Colorado, but most county clerks will give you trouble. I personally haven't tried, so I am registered as an unaffiliated voter instead. I think Colorado should change its closed primary policy. I suppose it makes sense from the party's perspective, but the goal is to get someone elected by all voters... what better way to judge that than to have open primaries?

El Paso county neems to be pretty good at registering people as Libertarian.

I agree with you though, I think any eligble voter should be able to vote in the primaries as CO has a HUGE independent population and CO is that way for a reason. Simply many dn't want to be categorized.

But heck, if I could register as a Libertarian and still be able to vote in the primaries, I would do it in a second.

As my OP noted, I would totally vote for McCain in the primaries because he is electable. If he's not on the ballot come November, I will vote for whatever Libertarian candidate (Ron Paul has been asked by the LP to be their candidate if he doesn't make the Repub cut...) unless I see that Clinton is in the running. I will vote for anyone else that might refuse her to being pres.

I had enough of her husband's politics and while Bush isn't much better, anyone has to be better than Clinton.

[oberon]

Originally Posted by COflower

As my OP noted, I would totally vote for McCain in the primaries because he is electable. If he's not on the ballot come November, I will vote for whatever Libertarian candidate (Ron Paul has been asked by the LP to be their candidate if he doesn't make the Repub cut...) unless I see that Clinton is in the running. I will vote for anyone else that might refuse her to being pres.

I was avoiding responding to this part of your original post, but here goes.

I think you're nuts if you really think McCain is more of a libertarian than Paul. I personally classify McCain as a moderate Republican. Let's review his stances that are not libertarian:

1) He is pro-life.
2) He is pro-war. Seriously.. it doesn't matter why we got into Iraq and it doesn't matter how long we are there.. they need to fix their problems themselves. Every day we are there we are wasting taxpayer money on someone else's problems.
3) He is anti-drugs. He doesn't even support legalizing pot!
4) He is anti-gay rights. He supported his state's constitutional amendment proposal that says marriage is between a man and a woman; he also thinks "don't ask, don't tell" is an appropriate policy.

Compare this to Ron Paul:
1) He is pro-life.

That's it. There are a few gray areas, but nothing major in my eyes.

Ron Paul is the only major party candidate I would definitely vote for in the general election. I might vote for McCain if the Dems field someone worse... but I'm not going to consider who that might be til I see who it is.