Michael Rectenwald has announced that he is running for president in 2024 on the Libertarian Party ticket.  He is running as a Mises Caucus candidate, which is the more radical (and libertarian) wing of the Libertarian Party.

Rectenwald was born in January 1959.  As I write this in 2023, he is 64 years old (correction made).  He was a university professor and at one time considered himself to be a Marxist.

In 2016, he was attacked for his political incorrectness and put on paid leave.  He ended up suing New York University in 2018 for defamation.

It was during this time that Rectenwald began to examine his whole worldview.  Even though he had been a leftist himself, he found himself getting attacked from the left.  When he became a victim of cancel culture, he realized the authoritarianism on the political left.

Perhaps the most interesting thing is that he didn’t just become an opponent of the left.  He didn’t just become a civil libertarian.  He reexamined everything, including economics.  This is not common for someone in their 50s to do.  He is now a believer in the Austrian school of economics.

Dave Smith

I previously wrote about Dave Smith and his possible run for the presidency.  With Rectenwald’s entrance into the race, it is important to address the fact that Dave Smith isn’t running.

He has stated that it is for family reasons, and I take him at his word.  I think it goes a bit deeper than this.  Dave has two young children, so it would obviously take a toll on his wife and kids if he were away campaigning for a year or more.

But I think it goes beyond this.  Dave himself has openly talked about Robert Kennedy Jr. and the threat of assassination.

If Dave were to run, he would be on with Joe Rogan and some of the other big podcasters.  He would garner a lot of attention.  It isn’t hard to imagine that hypothetical polls including his name in the race would show him getting traction.

What if Dave started polling at 5 to 10%?  The establishment and its media only ignore you until they can’t.  When they can no longer ignore you, then they smear you.  And with the smears oftentimes come threats.

If you think the establishment has tried to smear and exile Donald Trump, what do you think they would do to an actual libertarian gaining traction?

Trump just talks about the possibility of peace with Russia and not starting wars.  He only talks about the fake news media.  He sometimes rhetorically criticizes the intelligence agencies.

Imagine someone gaining traction on a national scale who you know will attempt to end the U.S. empire, defund the intelligence agencies, and take on the administrative state?  Your life and the life of your family is at stake, and I think Dave understands this.  I believe that is the reason he is not running in the coming year.  It’s not to say that he will never run.

I wish Dave Smith were running for the good of the country and to spread the message of liberty far and wide.  He is principled, well-versed on the issues, and has the ability to deliver the message well.  I don’t blame him at all for choosing not to run.

Rectenwald – The Good and The Concerns

No matter who had been picked to run in place of Dave Smith for the Mises Caucus, I think it is a tough standard to go against.  So it might be unfair to say that Rectenwald is less charismatic than Dave.  It is true, but I think just about everyone is less charismatic than Dave.  Dave is a comedian and knows how to deliver to an audience.

Regarding threats and smears coming from the establishment, I think Rectenwald will be better able to handle it.  It’s not that Dave wouldn’t have been able to handle the smears personally, but Rectenwald is accustomed to being smeared and he is older.  He doesn’t have a young family to protect.

In standing up to criticism, I think Rectenwald will do very well.  This is an important aspect of running for office, especially as a libertarian.  You have to have the courage to stick to your convictions and not be apologetic for your views.

Even though he is an ex-Marxist and somewhat new to the libertarian movement, I do trust Rectenwald.  I have heard him interviewed by Tom Woods several times.  I do believe he has sincerely changed his views and is solid.  You can never be 100% sure how someone will be once they actually take office.  Of course, that probably won’t be the case here, but I do trust that Rectenwald is sincere in his beliefs and is willing to attempt to take on the establishment.

My concern with Rectenwald is two-fold.  One is on the wokeness stuff, and the other is on foreign policy.

Don’t get me wrong here.  He is correct on both issues.  My concern with foreign policy is that he is not as well-versed as someone like Dave, especially on Ukraine.  I may be completely wrong on this, and I hope I am.  But I haven’t heard him talk a lot about foreign policy, and that is one area where the president can have a major impact.  It is probably the primary starting point for taking on the deep state.

And this ties in to my other concern about woke politics.  While he is correct that the woke stuff is very concerning and just downright absurd, I don’t just want a president who is a cheerleader against wokeness.  This has been one of my criticisms of DeSantis.

I don’t want a campaign about taking on woke colleges and woke corporations at the expense of campaigning for a non-interventionist foreign policy and liberty in general.  Rectenwald’s personal experiences may sway him to focus too much on political correctness and not enough on the core evils of the deep state.

Again, I want to reiterate that I don’t know of any disagreements I have with him at this time.  I think he is a solid libertarian.  I am just a bit concerned about his focus when it comes to the campaign.  But time will tell.

My Support

As of now, I plan to vote for Michael Rectenwald in 2024, assuming he is the Libertarian Party nominee.  There is always the question of whether this is “wasting your vote”.

The only time I have ever voted for a major party candidate for president in the general election was in 2020. Since 2004, I have either voted third party, not voted, or written in Ron Paul.  I voted for Trump in 2020 even though he had been a complete disaster on COVID.  I did it because I had this really bad feeling about Biden and the people he associated with.  We were still in COVID hysteria, and the left had outwardly shown their authoritarianism.  I wasn’t wrong in this bad feeling.

I will pay close attention to the major party candidates.  It is nice that many people who question the establishment have gotten some traction.  This includes Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert Kennedy Jr.  I have issues with each of them, but at least they are questioning some of the official narratives.

It looks like it will be Trump against Biden or some other establishment candidate.  If this is the case, I see no point in voting for Trump from my standpoint.  It’s not like my vote will decide the election.  Anyway, I live in Florida, which is no longer a swing state.  It is far more red now.  If Florida is close, then Trump (or whoever the Republican candidate is) will lose.  Georgia is more of a swing state now.  So my vote won’t matter anyway.

If Trump picks a good running mate and gets better on the issue of COVID, then maybe I will consider voting for him.  I need some convincing that it won’t be 2017 through 2020 all over again.  I want to hear who some of his appointments will be because they were mostly disastrous the last time around.

If Vivek or RFK were to somehow miraculously get a nomination, then I will have to reassess at that time.  But as of now, it looks like it will be Trump against a Democratic establishment candidate.  If that is the case, I will most likely support and vote for Michael Rectenwald.  I will support him either way as long as he continues to be good on the issues.

The average American is not happy with the status quo.  More people are coming to the realization that they are getting the short end of the stick and that the ruling elite is not on their side.  I hope that Michael Rectenwald can capitalize on this discontent and run a populist and principled campaign.