3 Comments

• 
  Todd Brown - 2 weeks ago

  Most people vote based on standard of living issues, believing that politicians can change their personal lot for the better. That hope springs eternal but is never fulfilled, and all politicians play to it.
  Secondarily, they vote on group identity/ideological bases, e.g. liberal/conservative/populist, Democrat/Republican, and not on a well-considered political philosophy basis. They tend to stick with their group regardless of the shifting positions of those who happen to gain the reigns of that group. Therefore, the amount of information such people access has little to do with anything because any changes in fact are simply rationalized in order to remain comfortably within the chosen group. This is deep, evolutionarily based behavior—tribalism essentially.
  As a glaring illustration, take a look at the dramatic changes in the announced positions of the Republican Party in recent years. For decades it was adamantly anti-tariff, but when Trump unilaterally imposed massive tariffs all that could be heard from the party was for the most part deafening silence, or even rationalization that tariffs, of a sudden, were good. And not a peep about their Constitutionality. Even more radical shifts have occurred in foreign policy. During the Bush administration, the neo-conservatives and their interventionist nation-building dreams were ascendant. Trump radically reversed that by running on an isolationist platform. But when he unilaterally and unlawfully began bombing boats and countries hardly a murmur was uttered (even Rand Paul has been relatively muted). Throughout, virtually all those who identify as Republican stayed right where they were.
  I won’t even bother to comment on the Democratic side of the ledger.
  Traditionally, the Libertarian Party has been the home of those with a well-considered and relatively consistent political philosophy. But recent leadership has failed to respect that. First, there was absolute silence from that leadership when the most aggressive authoritarian power grab in recent history was taking place during the pandemic. Then, in an extreme pendulum swing a Trumpian element gained control. Trump is an out-and-out authoritarian. This is obvious to anyone not deafened by rhetoric or blinded by ideology. Any “libertarian” element that can be detected is minimal, temporary, and geared toward advancing his personal agenda. But there are those who have been swayed by that. The LP’s Trumpian leadership even went so far as to denigrate the most successful Libertarian presidential candidate in the party’s history, Gary Johnson.
  Libertarians, being individualists, are different than most across the political spectrum. If they can be convinced to even join an organization, they aren’t going to hang around if that organization changes its stripes just so that they can remain comfortably within a group environment. They just leave.
  It’s no wonder that membership within the LP has dropped below 10,000.

• 
  Joe Shea - 2 weeks ago

  George has a point--the most informed voters are likely to be newscasters, but it doesn't mean that they understand the issues they are reporting or that they would make wise choices. When Gary Johnson misunderstood "Aleppo" as "a leppo" and asked what that was, it was a gotcha! moment that overshadowed his opinion.

• 
  George Reis - 2 weeks ago

  I'm likely much less informed, but more principled than most voters. I don't watch, listen to, or read news. Of course I hear some news when talking to friends, and I might look up some particulars when I hear something - but that's about it. However, I know that I believe in a government whose only responsibility is to protect the rights of its citizens, and I know that this is what leads to an individual's ability to live free and thrive. It's easy for me to determine whether most government actions move in this direction or the opposite. A very few issues become close; and for those I will look for more information, seek commentary from people I respect, etc.