A libertarian friend recently pooh-poohed the Free State Project. Saving my responses here so I don't have to repeat them.
Friend:
"...most of those who are currently running for office as Libertarians in New Hampshire don't generally give me much confidence in any attempt to create electoral success."
Me:
If the FSP weren't successful, why do you think the Democrats are complaining about them? Do you discount that success? Or do you think it won't continue as more FSPers move in?
https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/annie-robbins-free-staters-have-taken-over-states-legislature/article_a994d9e4-e580-11eb-abb4-af811d044e9b.html
Friend:
"...Pennsylvania has more elected Libertarians than any other state, and California has a Libertarian mayor and a Libertarian on a county board of supervisors."
Me:
The libertarians "wins" in Pennsylvannia were mostly for uncontested races in which the libertarians ran unopposed. As you can imagine, those races were mostly for minor positions in rural small towns.
https://www.libertarianboosterpac.org/blog/lessons-from-23-pennsylvania-libertarian-victories#/
What meaningful policies have any of those libertarians actually achieved?
Meanwhile, the wins in New Hampshire have been at the state Congressional level. 40 Free Staters were elected to NH Congress in 2020, including the House Majority leader.
More on Free State wins here:
https://twitter.com/FreeStateNH/status/1476951307315556352
Friend:
"free staters were elected to New Hampshire Congress and allowed restrictions on abortion to pass. Thankfully not the worst restrictions in the country, but NH was excellent on the issue before, and now has government involved where it wasn't before.
"The state should not be involved" isn't vague."
Me:
"Yeah. But I don't think being pro-life necessarily makes someone a Republican. As you know, libertarians also sharply disagree on the abortion issue: 35-40% of libertarians are anti-abortion. And there are a lot of good libertarian reasons to be pro-life.
In any case, what matters is who shows up. If the pro-life libertarians are the ones who show up for the FSP, then they're the ones whose views will win. If the pro-choice libertarians show up in greater numbers, then their views will win.
Unlike almost any other place, in NH, libertarians can actually win enough power to shift the politics in whatever direction we prefer. If even 1% of the 16.5 million libertarians in the US move to New Hampshire, that would be a 165,000 person voting bloc. And if 65% of those libertarians are pro-choice, then NH will be pro-choice."
#FSP
Friend:
"...most of those who are currently running for office as Libertarians in New Hampshire don't generally give me much confidence in any attempt to create electoral success."
Me:
If the FSP weren't successful, why do you think the Democrats are complaining about them? Do you discount that success? Or do you think it won't continue as more FSPers move in?
https://www.laconiadailysun.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/annie-robbins-free-staters-have-taken-over-states-legislature/article_a994d9e4-e580-11eb-abb4-af811d044e9b.html
Friend:
"...Pennsylvania has more elected Libertarians than any other state, and California has a Libertarian mayor and a Libertarian on a county board of supervisors."
Me:
The libertarians "wins" in Pennsylvannia were mostly for uncontested races in which the libertarians ran unopposed. As you can imagine, those races were mostly for minor positions in rural small towns.
https://www.libertarianboosterpac.org/blog/lessons-from-23-pennsylvania-libertarian-victories#/
What meaningful policies have any of those libertarians actually achieved?
Meanwhile, the wins in New Hampshire have been at the state Congressional level. 40 Free Staters were elected to NH Congress in 2020, including the House Majority leader.
More on Free State wins here:
https://twitter.com/FreeStateNH/status/1476951307315556352
Friend:
"free staters were elected to New Hampshire Congress and allowed restrictions on abortion to pass. Thankfully not the worst restrictions in the country, but NH was excellent on the issue before, and now has government involved where it wasn't before.
"The state should not be involved" isn't vague."
Me:
"Yeah. But I don't think being pro-life necessarily makes someone a Republican. As you know, libertarians also sharply disagree on the abortion issue: 35-40% of libertarians are anti-abortion. And there are a lot of good libertarian reasons to be pro-life.
In any case, what matters is who shows up. If the pro-life libertarians are the ones who show up for the FSP, then they're the ones whose views will win. If the pro-choice libertarians show up in greater numbers, then their views will win.
Unlike almost any other place, in NH, libertarians can actually win enough power to shift the politics in whatever direction we prefer. If even 1% of the 16.5 million libertarians in the US move to New Hampshire, that would be a 165,000 person voting bloc. And if 65% of those libertarians are pro-choice, then NH will be pro-choice."
#FSP