Libertarian Democrat Explained

In American politics, a libertarian Democrat is a member of the Democratic Party with political views that are relatively libertarian compared to the views of the national party.

While other factions of the Democratic Party, such as the Blue Dog Coalition, the New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, are organized in the Congress, the libertarian faction is not organized in such a way.

Ideology

Libertarian Democrats oppose NSA warrantless surveillance. In 2013, well over half the House Democrats (111 of 194) voted to defund the NSA's telephone phone surveillance program.[1]

Former representative and current Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, a libertarian-oriented Democrat, wrote in Reason magazine: "I believe that libertarians should vote for Democratic candidates, particularly as our Democratic nominees are increasingly more supportive of individual liberty and freedom than Republicans".[2] He cited opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act, support for the legalization of marijuana, support for the separation of church and state, support for abortion rights and individual bodily autonomy, opposition to mass surveillance and support for tax-code reform as areas where the majority of Democrats align well with libertarian values.[2]

History

Modern era

After election losses in 2004, the Democratic Party reexamined its position on gun control which became a matter of discussion, brought up by Howard Dean, Bill Richardson, Brian Schweitzer and other Democrats who had won in states where Second Amendment rights are important to many voters. The resulting stance on gun control brought in libertarian minded voters, influencing other beliefs.

In the 2010s, following the revelations by Edward Snowden about NSA surveillance in 2013, the increasing advent of online decentralization and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, the perceived failure of the war on drugs and the police violence in places like Ferguson, Democratic lawmakers such as Senators Ron Wyden, Kirsten Gilibrand and Cory Booker and Representative Jared Polis have worked alongside libertarian Republicans like Senator Rand Paul and Representative Justin Amash to curb what is seen as government overreach in each of these areas, earning plaudits from such traditional libertarian sources as Reason magazine.[3] [4] [5] [6] The growing political power of Silicon Valley, a longtime Democratic stronghold that is friendly to economic deregulation and strong civil liberties protections while maintaining traditionally liberal views on social issues, has also seriously affected the increasingly libertarian leanings of young Democrats.[7] [8]

The libertarian faction has influenced the presidential level as well in the post-Bush era. Alaska Senator and presidential aspirant Mike Gravel left the Democratic Party midway through the 2008 presidential election cycle to seek the Libertarian Party presidential nomination,[9] and many anti-war and civil libertarian Democrats were energized by the 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns of libertarian Republican Ron Paul.[10] [11] This constituency arguably embraced the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns of independent Democrat Bernie Sanders for the same reasons.[12] [13] In the state of New Hampshire, libertarians operating from the Free State Project have been elected to various offices running as a mixture of both Republicans and Democrats.[14] [15] A 2015 Reuters poll found that 22% of Democratic voters identified themselves as "libertarian," more than the percentage of Republicans but less than the percentage of independents.[16]

Public figures

Current elected officials

Senate

Governors

State representatives

Former elected officials

United States Senate

United States House of Representatives

Governors

State lower chambers

Authors and scholars

Others

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Blake . Aaron . Libertarian Democrats: A movement in search of a leader . Washington Post . August 1, 2013 . June 6, 2015.
  2. Web site: Polis . Jared . Vote Democratic for Real Libertarian Values . Reason Magazine . October 30, 2014 . June 6, 2015.
  3. News: Lake . Eli . Rand Paul and Ron Wyden, Drone Odd-Couple . The Daily Beast . February 26, 2013 . June 6, 2015.
  4. Web site: Shackford . Scott . Ban the Dollar! . Reason Magazine . March 4, 2014 . June 6, 2015.
  5. Web site: Voorhees . Josh . Pot's Path Forward . Slate . March 13, 2015 . June 6, 2015.
  6. Web site: Kim . Seung Min . Cory Booker and Rand Paul team up for justice . Politico . July 8, 2014 . June 6, 2015.
  7. Web site: Roose . Kevin . Political Leanings of Silicon Valley . New York Magazine . January 24, 2013.
  8. News: Hamby . Peter . Can Silicon Valley disrupt the Democratic Party? . CNN . April 7, 2014 . June 6, 2015.
  9. News: Wheaton . Sarah . Gravel to Run for Libertarian Nod . The New York Times . March 26, 2008 . June 6, 2015.
  10. News: Steinmetz . Katy . Six Reasons Ron Paul Has Appeal Beyond the GOP . Time Magazine . December 30, 2011 . June 6, 2015.
  11. News: Koerner . Robin . Blue Republican or Red Democrat? The reEVOLution Crosses Party Lines . The Huffington Post . May 29, 2012 . June 6, 2015.
  12. News: Schwarz . Hunter . Why Bernie Sanders is the Democratic Ron Paul – And Why He Isn't . Washington Post . May 1, 2015 . June 6, 2015.
  13. Web site: Weber . Peter . Why Bernie Sanders is the Ron Paul of 2016 . The Week . May 4, 2015 . June 6, 2015.
  14. Web site: Free State Project Watch: Candidate List 2016 . fsp.org . November 2016 . March 19, 2019.
  15. Web site: O'Brien . Jack . How the Free State Project Is Influencing New Hampshire Politics . September 20, 2017 . March 19, 2019.
  16. Web site: Welch . Matt . 19% of Americans Self-Identify as Libertarians, New Reuters Poll Finds . Reason.com . April 30, 2015 . March 31, 2019.
  17. Web site: Eidelson . Josh . Rand Paul and Cory Booker's Washington Love Affair. Bloomberg . July 17, 2014.
  18. Web site: Daniel . Mitchell J.. Cory Booker's Libertarian Case Against the Drug War. July 18, 2012.
  19. Web site: Jacobs . Ben . Rand Paul and Ron Wyden, Drone Odd-Couple . The Daily Beast . February 26, 2013 . August 31, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130604052723/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/26/rand-paul-and-ron-wyden-drone-odd-couple.html . June 4, 2013 .
  20. Nick Gillespie, Five myths about libertarians, Washington Post (August 2, 2013).
  21. https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/03/30/jared-polis-colorados-governor-is-an-unusual-breed-a-libertarian-democrat Jared Polis, Colorado's governor, is an unusual breed: a libertarian Democrat
  22. Web site: Scott Shackford . Ban the Dollar!. Reason. April 5, 2014.
  23. Scott Shackford, The Gamer Congressman: Is Rep. Jared Polis the first in a wave of libertarian-leaning video game enthusiasts?, Reason (June 2014).
  24. Jared Polis, Vote Democrat for Real Libertarian Values, Reason (October 30, 2014).
  25. Robert Draper, Has the 'Libertarian Moment' Finally Arrived?, New York Times Magazine (August 7, 2014).
  26. Alex Muresianu, Colorado's Jared Polis Is the Latest Governor to Embrace Licensing Reform, Reason (June 5, 2019).
  27. Krista Kafer, Polis' libertarian streak shows in his vetoes of three more occupational license, Denver Post (June 7, 2019).
  28. Sterling . Bruce . Meanwhile, in the Libertarian Free State . WIRED . February 19, 2020.
  29. [Conor Friedersdorf]
  30. [Jesse Walker]
  31. Sarah Wheaton, Gravel to Run for Libertarian Nod, New York Times (March 26, 2008).
  32. "Libertarian Party" in Historical Dictionary of United States Political Parties (ed. Harold F. Bass Jr.: Scarecrow Press: 2d ed., 2009), p. 180: "Among the more prominent Democrats in the Libertarian camp is former senator Mike Gravel ... who ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nominations of both the Democratic and Libertarian parties in 2008."
  33. Web site: Stancy Correll, Diana. May 6, 2019. Ron Paul calls Tulsi Gabbard 'very best' Democratic candidate. October 23, 2019. Washington Examiner.
  34. Web site: Boehm, Eric. January 11, 2019. Tulsi Gabbard, Iraq War Veteran and Skeptic of America's Wars, Will Run for President in 2020. October 23, 2019. Reason.
  35. Web site: Libertarian Gary Johnson offers 'whatever I can do' to help Tulsi Gabbard in New Hampshire amid third party talk around the candidate. Business Insider.
  36. News: September 12, 2002. Profile: Tim Penny. Campaign 2002. Minnesota Public Radio. St. Paul, Minn.. June 22, 2011.
  37. [David Weigel]
  38. News: October 2, 2006. Markos Moulitsas: the case for the libertarian Democrat. Cato Unbound. Cato Institute. Washington. June 22, 2011.
  39. News: August 27, 2008. Whatever happened to the libertarian Democrat?. Reason.com. Reason Magazine. Los Angeles. June 22, 2011.
  40. Ben Smith, Jerry Brown, Libertarian, Politico (September 9, 2011).
  41. "Decentralism" in The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (Sage: 2008: ed. Ronald Hamowy), p. 112: "In post-World War II American politics, decentralist themes can be found in such disparate groups as ... the Democratic left (former California Governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown)."
  42. News: Adam Sexton. May 25, 2018. Father, daughter on opposite sides of political aisle in Concord. WMUR.
  43. Web site: Johnston, Bob. May 10, 2017. Another New Hampshire legislator switches to the Libertarian Party. December 28, 2019. Libertarian Party.
  44. News: December 6, 1992. Idea flying, a maverick breaks the feminist mold. The Milwaukee Journal. Journal Communications Inc.. Milwaukee, Wisc.. June 22, 2011.
  45. News: April 19, 2005. Hark, a libertarian looks to her right. The Sydney Morning Herald. John Fairfax Holdings. Sydney, Australia. April 19, 2005.
  46. News: 2008. I have re-registered as a Democrat. KGO-AM Radio. San Francisco. dead. June 22, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20101216074814/http://kgoam810.com/Article.asp?id=586387. December 16, 2010.
  47. News: June 2023. Kennedy, Condemning 'Censorship,' Hits Democrats and Courts the Disaffected. New York Times. August 28, 2023.
  48. News: July 2023. Why Are So Many Libertarians Suddenly Fond of RFK Jr.?. Reason Magazine. August 28, 2023.
  49. News: 2020. Yang Is Out. Yangism Is Here to Stay.. nymag.com. New York Magazine – Intelligencer. New York City.