After many, many years, there are actual libertarians now running the Libertarian Party.  It looks like we are no longer stuck with the LINOs (Libertarians In Name Only).

The Libertarian National Convention took place in Reno over the last weekend in May 2022.  The Mises Caucus endorsed candidates for the Libertarian National Committee swept.

Angela McArdle is now the chair of the party.  Joshua Smith is vice chair.  Caryn Ann Harlos is back as secretary.  I am familiar with all three of them.  Todd Hagopian is the treasurer.  I am not familiar with him, but he is a member of the Mises Caucus.

The Mises Caucus is made up of the hardcore libertarians.  They are the libertarian wing of the Libertarian Party.  I think Mises was the right name to choose.  Mises was radical in his support for free market economics.  But it is inclusive for the radicals.  If it had been, say, the Rothbard Caucus, I think it would have been too exclusionary to those who do not consider themselves to be anarcho-capitalists.

A Ron Paul Caucus or a Harry Browne Caucus probably would have worked as well, but Mises was a good choice for a name overall.

Back around 2017, Michael Heise set out to “take over” the Libertarian Party.  Perhaps it is better to say “take back”.  The Libertarian Party, particularly from 2008 to 2020, was not the Libertarian Party of Harry Browne.  You could see this with the presidential nominees.  You could really see it with the vice presidential nominee in 2016 with Bill Weld, as he seemed to be out there campaigning on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

In 2020, I think Jo Jorgensen was a step back in the right direction.  Her campaign was terrible, and she had some bad people who must have been advising her.  But she did seem a little bit more principled than Gary Johnson and Bill Weld.

Jo Jorgensen and the Libertarian National Committee were a major letdown in 2020.  It’s not that I had great expectations.  But when most of the country is locked down and businesses deemed non-essential are forced to shut down, you’d think that the Libertarian Party might have something significant to say about it.  Instead, they seemed to care more about supporting Black Lives Matter and telling everyone how anti racist they are as cities were up in flames.

When Michael Heise started the movement for actual libertarians to gain control of the LP, it seemed like a long shot at the time.  But there aren’t that many active members of the LP who actually go to the convention and vote.  You really just need about a thousand radicals to be active.

Many notable names in the libertarian movement such as Dave Smith, Tom Woods, and Scott Horton encouraged their supporters to help take over the Libertarian Party and turn it libertarian again.

The Biggest Change is Yet to Come

In 2008, when the Ron Paul campaign was winding down, I told a few people that I thought Ron Paul supporters should join the Libertarian Party.  There were hundreds of thousands of people who enthusiastically (to say the least) supported Dr. Paul.  It would have just taken a few thousand hardcore Ron Paul supporters to direct the LP into a good direction.

Unfortunately, in 2008, Bob Barr got the nomination over Mary Ruwart.  This was a major turning point for the party, as they sought notoriety over principle.  If Mary Ruwart had been the nominee, I think Ron Paul would have endorsed her, and she probably would have received a few million votes.

We haven’t yet had a hardcore libertarian in the general presidential election backed by Ron Paul since his 2008 campaign.  Harry Browne was a great candidate in 1996 and 2000, but the internet had just begun and not a lot of people were familiar with him or the LP.  The 2007/ 2008 Ron Paul campaign brought out hundreds of thousands of libertarians, many of whom were politically inactive before that time.

In 2024, we may finally get to test how strong the libertarian appetite is by running an actual libertarian in the general election.

Comedian and podcaster, Dave Smith, has said he will run in 2024 on the Libertarian Party ticket as long as there is nobody he sees as more effective.  With what happened in Reno, I think Dave is likely to get the nomination if he wants it.

Dave is friends with Joe Rogan and some other high-profile podcasters.  When you couple this with the anti establishment sentiment that is out there, it could really shake things up.

I doubt that Dave has a good chance to win, but I could see him gaining traction and garnering Ross Perot type numbers.

In this respect, I hope Donald Trump doesn’t run.  I can say the same for Ron DeSantis.  If Trump or DeSantis is the Republican nominee, I think you will get a sizeable majority who will vote Republican or Democrat regardless.  They will either want Trump in, or they will want him not to win.

If it is Trump vs. Biden or some other establishment Democrat, then I think Dave will still do well, but I don’t think he will get near 20% of the popular vote.

If it isn’t Trump or DeSantis, I could see many conservative voters swinging to Dave Smith if they are skeptical about the Republican nominee being another shill for the establishment.

Either way, I think the important thing is that Dave will use the platform to spread the message of liberty.  This could have a massive impact on the world and our future.  I don’t want to oversell it, but I don’t want to undersell it either.

If 30 million people hear Dave’s basic pro liberty message and turn into hardcore libertarians, it will change the country for a long time to come.  It’s not that it will turn us into a libertarian society overnight, but it will have great impacts on the course of history.  Other countries will see it too, and some will follow it.

The last weekend of May 2022 is a major turning point, and almost nobody knows anything about it.  With everything bad that seems to be going on, there is reason for optimism.