Comments Elsewhere

“If you don’t vote for what you truly want,(limited govt.), you’ll never get it.”

But I don’t want limited government. I want no government. So building the Libertarian Party is for me (as it is for many others) just as much a strategic move as voting for some worse statist. (Indeed, this is the case even if you are (just like Badnarik) a committed minarchist Constitutionalist. “Limited government” isn’t on the ballot; Michael Badnarik is, and the argument for voting for him is, at the strongest, that he would do the most to advance the cause of limited government if elected.)

Given that, there are some good reasons to think that if you are in the particular circumstance of, for example, living in a swing state where a handful of votes may determine the outcome, there may be good reasons to think that a vote for Kerry is the wisest course of action available. (As Roderick argues, the case is much less strong insofar as these considerations aren’t in play—if I were still living in Alabama rather than Michigan, I wouldn’t hesitate to put in a ballot for Badnarik.)