The upcoming presidential primaries will be nothing short of interesting. Some libertarians will say that they are all the same and that it doesn’t really matter who is elected president because they are all controlled by the deep state.

In the past, this was mostly true. As Gary North used to write, it is CFR Team A vs. CFR Team B. That is the Council on Foreign Relations. You could also say Establishment Candidate A vs. Establishment Candidate B.

In 2004, we had George W. Bush against John Kerry in the general election. They are both part of Skull and Bones, a small elitist group out of Yale. It doesn’t get more establishment than that.

Maybe Donald Trump really is controlled by the establishment. He didn’t seem to overturn any major deep state policies while in office for four years. Trump couldn’t even wind down some wars that he seemed to want to end. His own administration got in his way. When Trump tried to pull troops out of Syria, the people he hired stepped in and assured us that we weren’t really pulling out of Syria.

Still, Trump’s rhetoric is one that doesn’t show signs of him being embedded with the establishment. He may hire the wrong people and take the wrong position on some issues, but it is easy to recognize that there is at least something different about Trump.

A Different Slate of Candidates

Following politics can be depressing for a libertarian. It seems as though the worst person wins more often than not. And most times, it really doesn’t matter that much, as the only choices are really bad choices.

Now maybe it’s just the rhetoric, but there is something different this time around. There is definitely an anti government or anti establishment wave of public opinion.

Even if the candidates are completely lying to us, which I don’t think is the case, they at least feel the need to use rhetoric that is anti establishment.

There are a lot of interesting people who are running or possibly running for president beyond Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.

Dave Smith is likely running for the Libertarian Party nomination, which in itself will make a general election far more interesting. He will find ways to get exposure through alternative media, and he will bring up issues like war and the Fed in a way that Trump would not.

On the Democratic Party side, there is talk of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. running. Sure, he would be smeared as “anti-vax”, but it would be great if he were able to get into a debate with Biden or whoever the establishment favorite is. I highly doubt Kennedy has any chance of getting the nomination from this pitiful and evil party. Much of the party just dutifully obey the orders of their masters.

There are certainly issues where liberty-minded people may not agree with Kennedy, but at least he is honest and courageous. Those are the two most important traits in taking on the establishment.

On the Republican side, there are establishment candidates or possible candidates like Nikki Haley and Mike Pence. Luckily, these evil people are likely going nowhere.

We, of course, have Trump and possibly DeSantis running, who are the favorites. But another interesting person is Vivek Ramaswamy. It’s hard to know where he stands on foreign policy, but he has been attacking the Federal Reserve and saying we need to abolish the Department of Education (music to a libertarian’s ear).

Restoring My Faith in Mankind

If Dave Smith is the LP nominee, and Vivek Ramaswamy is the Republican nominee, and Robert Kennedy Jr. is the Democratic nominee, my optimism for the future will rise to nearly 100%. This would really restore my faith in mankind.

Even if two out of three are the nominees and the other one gets good traction, I will consider it a win.

Out of the three, Dave Smith has the best chance of being the nominee because the party is so small and it is the hardcore people who really get to decide. The LP nomination happens at the national convention as opposed to state primaries.

So right off the bat, this is great news because Dave Smith is a hardcore and principled libertarian who knows how to present the message well. (He will reach even more people when he cleans up his mouth for a general audience).

Ramaswamy may be looking for a VP slot under Trump, but his message is still important. He will force a conversation, at least to a certain degree, about the Fed and other issues. While he isn’t as great as Ron Paul, his presence will likely be similar to that of Ron Paul in the 2007/2008 and 2011/2012 elections.

I have far less optimism with Kennedy running as a Democrat. It’s not because he doesn’t have a lot of valuable things to say. It is because the party and their obedient media will attempt to censor him. They will just try to pretend that he doesn’t exist. And when they feel compelled to acknowledge his existence, they will smear him. It’s hard to say if they will be successful in keeping him off the debate stage.

Vivek’s Take on DeSantis

The big wildcard for me is Ron DeSantis. I voted for him in the last governor race because he was one of the least bad governors on COVID.

DeSantis did lock down Florida in April 2020. Luckily, he got smart and got some courage and quickly reversed course while most of the rest of the country was still in isolation (i.e., under totalitarian orders).

I have a concern that DeSantis is too politically brilliant. So I don’t always know if I’m being played. It’s nice that DeSantis takes on the “woke” crowd, but this doesn’t really do much for me or anyone else if he is president.

Just because you can speak boldly against the “woke” crowd, it doesn’t really mean you are taking on the establishment. It doesn’t mean you are taking on the military-industrial complex. It doesn’t mean that you are taking on the so-called intelligence agencies. It doesn’t mean you are taking on the Fed or the Department of Education.

I don’t want DeSantis – if he were president – to stop transgender story hour for kindergarteners. I want him to abolish the Department of Education.

Vivek Ramaswamy did an interview with Candace Owens, and she asked him about his thoughts on Trump and DeSantis. Vivek is somewhat complimentary of both of them, but he doesn’t have faith that they can get the job done as president. He is actually a bit harsher towards DeSantis.

Now, again, Vivek may be setting himself as a possible Trump running mate, but I think his criticism of DeSantis is fair, and Candace Owens agreed with him.

Vivek said that DeSantis actually doesn’t have enough courage and implies he is too scripted and rehearsed. When DeSantis addressed the news that Trump may be arrested, DeSantis cleverly kept referring to the “Soros-backed District Attorney (DA)”. He repeated it several times.

But it was a bit too clever for me. It was a brilliant political statement, which is exactly the problem. I don’t know if he is just telling conservatives what they want to hear.

Conclusion

There are things I like and hate about Trump. This has been the case for a while now.

I generally like Kennedy and Ramaswamy. I don’t exactly know where they stand on foreign policy, but I like that they will bring up issues that the establishment does not want to talk about.

I am unclear on DeSantis and how good or bad he would be as president. We need to hear more of what a DeSantis foreign policy would look like, and then we’ll have to judge if we can take him seriously.

Dave Smith will be a great LP candidate and help spread the message of liberty far and wide. He just needs to start making videos that I can send to my mother.

Overall, despite the depressing state of the world in many areas, it is encouraging that we have different voices that will help to change the conversation in America. It isn’t simply CFR Team A against CFR Team B anymore.