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Lots of people on the left and right found reasons to be a little unhappy, or downright miserable, about the election. The Republican Party lost the White House; Democrats have lost ground in the House, and their path to a Senate majority seems very narrow.

But there is one group of people unreservedly happy even ecstatic about the results: those who lean libertarian.

They got almost everything they wanted. On the one hand, Joe Biden has a friendlier record on trade and immigration, and on the other, they avoided the burst of spending that inevitably comes with unified control of the federal government.

Old-school debt and deficit hawks will also be pleased, too, but libertarians are ecstatic. As one writer at Reason wondered, perhaps speaking for many libertarians, Is this the greatest election of my lifetime?

In the early years of the Trump administration, with Republicans in control of Congress, the country saw a steady rise in spending and ballooning deficits and debt. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas might not have been quite right when he said that, after all, President Trump didnt campaign on cutting the debt. Actually, Mr. Trump did, but in a throwaway manner, while putting more stress on continued, even increased, big spending and debt.

And as is so often the case with one-party control, as in Mr. Trumps first years, big spending took hold. According to the Cato Institute, over Mr. Trumps four years, spending went up by a total of 10 percent. Something similar happened under George W. Bush: Spending shot up 24 percent.

But what really seems like an effective arrangement for controlling spending is a Democratic president with Republicans in charge of at least one body of Congress. During the first four years of the Barack Obama and Bill Clinton administrations, both of which included years of split control of government, spending was more restrained or even reduced. Under Mr. Clinton, spending inched up only 3 percent. In Mr. Obamas first term, total spending actually went down by 10 percent.

There are ways beyond the budget that a Biden presidency could be a boon to libertarians. Mr. Trump was a disaster when it came to free trade, kicking off a huge trade war with China and renegotiating NAFTA so that it contained more protectionist, anti-free-market measures like wage controls.

By contrast, Mr. Biden will probably cut a more pro-trade profile. Congressional Republicans and Democrats were reluctant to give Mr. Trump trade negotiating authority, but they are more likely to give Mr. Biden that authority than they are to withhold it (despite some pressure from the partys progressives like Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez).

Mr. Biden is likely to pursue pro-immigration reforms and policies, both in the realm of regulation and administrative practice as well as in terms of legislation. Libertarians never liked the mechanism by which President Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, but they also hated President Trumps dismantling of it as well as his major cuts to legal immigration, big spending for a border wall and more.

Libertarians view legal immigration, and especially high-skilled workers, as an economic boon to the country and like that free trade keeps prices down for American consumers and extends our opportunities to sell abroad.

And there is also Mr. Bidens record. Sure, he made campaign proposals for a health care public option and spending on climate programs. But he has a reputation for tough fiscal discipline relative to the rest of his party.

As vice president, he helped resolve spending stalemates and government shutdowns with that ultimate spending-slashing tool that big-spending Democrats and Republicans hated but libertarians loved: sequestration, or automatic spending caps.

As a senator, he worked hard to keep the deficit and debt under control. To take a couple of examples, in the mid-1990s, he voted for a constitutional amendment that would require the federal government to balance its budget a position that put him at odds with a majority of the Democratic caucus. In 1997, he voted yes on a Republican budget that cut both taxes and spending.

With a Biden presidency, a McConnell-dominated Senate and a less Democratic House, libertarians get the best possible outlook on spending, debt and deficits, and these other important policy areas while also perhaps preventing far-left nominees for important executive roles and dodging the specter of court packing.

The election will be deeply disappointing to die-hard Trumpers, Democrats hoping for a landslide and Never Trumpers eager to see the Republican Party burn. Thats a lot of people, probably even most voters.

But for some of us, it will be a win a silver lining out of the countrys political divisions.

Liz Mair (@LizMair), a strategist for campaigns by Scott Walker, Roy Blunt, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry, is the founder and president of Mair Strategies.

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Why the Election Worked Out Well for Libertarians and Deficit Hawks - The New York Times

It has been a tumultuous week for all Americans, but conservative students at Seattle University have had a particularly interesting week.

The Seattle U Conservative Student Union (SUCU) held a watch party over Zoom Nov. 3 to observe the ballots roll in from across the country.

While the group was smallonly seven peoplethey were a tight-knit and consistent group of like-minded individuals.

The group was designed as a space for students with certain political viewpoints to come together in a city that consistently is more liberal-leaning. According to Matthew Wald, a third year nursing student and president of SUCU, the club is both welcoming of and open to communication with the entire Seattle U community.

As the ballot count began, several students pointed out that not everyone in the club was completely satisfied with the Republican party, nor candidate President Trump.

I think we are at a point now where tensions are really high. I think people are more likely to jump to conclusions and assume an extremist perspective of the other side, Wald said. People need to remember that this election is not the end-all be-all of our future.

Activism is activismno matter if you are left or right-wing, Wald continued. We have students that got out and helped for a variety of different elections, with canvassing or other volunteering. There are students advocating for tons of different causes, and I truly think that everyone wants the best, we just might not agree on how to go about fixing problems.

Seattle Us chapter of the Federalist Society, a group of conservative and libertarian students, hosted an event Nov. 6 with Dale Carpenter, a professor of constitutional law and LGBTQ rights. The Zoom event, addressed emerging threats to free speech on college campuses, enabled students to voice common concerns over potential university infringements on free speech rights.

President Donald Trump also signed an executive order March 22 of 2019 titled, Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency and Accountability at Colleges and Universities. In his speech announcing the decision, he specifically cited far-right activists who are increasingly popular amongst young conservatives, such as Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens.

Under the guise of speech codes and safe spaces and trigger warnings, these universities have tried to restrict free thought, impose total conformity and shut down the voices of great young Americans, Trump said.

Carpenter elaborated on these fears, and spoke to a small group of students who share President Trumps concern about free speech.

University policy should seek to establish an environment that is free of sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia and other kinds of prejudice, Carpenter said. But no person or group merely by claiming offense should be able to bring down the disciplinary machinery of the university.

Seattle Federalist Society President Afton Gregson expressed worry that conservative and libertarian students are being labeled in negative ways.

Everybody will say, well youre against this, youre against gay marriage, youre against abortion, and theres a centrist element here that people miss, and people are ultimatley alienated by the fact that people ascribe them labels that arent necessarily true, which has been a challenge on campus here too, Gregson said.

Isabell Rocha, a JD candidate for the class of 22 and Vice President of the Federalist Society, went to bed the night of the election stressed with little information as to who the next president would be. Although Rocha is glad the election is over, she felt as though it was a messy election, and would like to see what courts rule on the election allegations put forth by President Trump.

Washington State has always been mail-in for a few years now, and the fact that the Trump administration pushed back against states that also wanted to do mail-in [voting], I see that type of claim credible because it was being rushed, Rocha said. However, claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election are unsubstantiated at the moment.

In terms of moving forward, Rocha expects the country to stay politically divided throughout the next presidency, but hopes that President Trump will concede for the sake of the Republican party.

I think itll reflect really badly on the Republican Party if he doesnt concede and puts up a fight, Rocha said. I think right now, as a whole in the nation, Republicans really need to reevaluate who theyre putting up as candidates and how we represent ourselves. Because right now, it just doesnt look good.

While the election has been called by various news outlets, conservative, libertarian and non-left leaning Seattle U students are waiting to see how the rest of this transition will move forward, as is the rest of the country.

Originally posted here:
Conservative, Libertarian and Non-Left Seattle University Students React to Election Week - The Spectator

Hide the kids and liquor. Libertarians have been heard from again.

It didn't take long to figure out Arkansas' votes back on Tuesday. Before the night was over, folks here had given six electoral votes to President Trump, approved a permanent road tax, and rejected more restrictions for ballot measures.

Tom Cotton handily won re-election. As everybody knew he would. The Republican senator didn't have a Democratic challenger (or at least didn't have one for long). Democrats around Arkansans are still fuming that their guy signed up and then dropped out a couple hours later.

So folks of a certain political stripe--the stripe that would have liked to have sent Tom Cotton packing--turned their attention to a man who, in a frank acknowledgement, wouldn't have received that much attention if Joshua Mahony had stayed in the race.

The Libertarians across Arkansas are a rowdy bunch. And persistent. Which makes them true Arkansans. Libertarians have to get petitions signed to make it onto the ballot every election, and by golly, they show up year after year.

This year, Ricky Dale Harrington became Sen. Cotton's main opponent. He ran a campaign on a shoestring budget and came up just short of 400,000 votes, according to preliminary numbers. But you also have to acknowledge that he got more than 394,000 votes. That's pretty good for a Libertarian candidate. In any race. Ever.

It's also more votes than former Sen. Mark Pryor got running for re-election when Mr. Cotton first beat him in 2014. Mr. Pryor got 334,174 votes that year, and Libertarian Nathan LaFrance got 17,210. But there's no silver and bronze medals in political campaigns.

Even Libertarians will admit that they aren't exactly mainstream. Yet. (Then again, once upon a time the Republicans weren't a mainstream party, either. Then a man named Lincoln came along.)

Some ideas floated by our Libertarian friends are indeed strange, not to mention unworkable. But America needs them, bless their small(est) government hearts. They pull starboard even when the right leans left. Most of the time.

You see, right and left don't mean much to the average Libertarian. The glue that binds them together is that the government is best that governs least. The very, very least. They can make Republicans look like socialists. (And sometimes even say that.) And they can make Democrats look like arch conservatives.

Their position on the issues? Sometimes on target. Sometimes foolhardy. Like everybody's thoughts.

Legalizing all drugs? Well, we are looking at Oregon this election cycle, and that state has decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cocaine and heroin. So the Libertarian position is creeping up on the mainstream. If Oregon can be considered mainstream. Let's hope it's not, and that state doesn't come to regret its position.

On foreign policy, the Libertarians hold the Fortress America position. Which didn't work before Dec. 7, 1941, or before Sept. 11, 2001. But a particular incumbent, sitting president has moved in that direction for a couple of years. So it's catching on again. (Sigh.)

So are Libertarians malcontents, or ahead of public opinion by a few years? Why not both? For the record, malcontents have been making waves in United States politics even before there was a United States. And the country needs Libertarians. When Democrats are anti-choice on education but pro-choice on abortion, and Republicans are pro-government regulation on flag burning but anti-government regulation on gun registration, a body gets a little hungry for consistency.

Arkansas PBS held debates for the congressional candidates this year, and Tom Cotton didn't show up to debate Ricky Dale Harrington. Which made political sense. Tom Cotton is a smart politician.

Nonetheless, Mr. Harrington was there, and had some memorable quotes throughout the night, including:

"If you remember those who disagree with you are still human beings, we don't have to agree on everything. If everyone is thinking alike, then is there really that much thinking going on? Our differences make us stronger."

Every once in a while, the Libertarians are dead-on right. This was another one of those times. His comment reminds us of one of our favorite quotes from our favorite curmudgeon H.L. Mencken:

"What I admire most in any man is a serene spirit, a steady freedom from moral indignation, an all-embracing tolerance--in brief, what is commonly called good sportsmanship. Such a man is not to be mistaken for one who shirks the hard knocks of life. On the contrary, he is frequently an eager gladiator, vastly enjoying opposition. But when he fights he fights in the manner of a gentleman fighting a duel, not in that of a longshoreman cleaning out a waterfront saloon. That is to say, he carefully guards his amour propre by assuming that his opponent is as decent a man as he is, and just as honest--and perhaps, after all, right."

We'll keep an eye on Mr. Harrington's future campaigns if he chooses to run again. If the Libertarian stirred such a response with chewing gum and duct tape, it'd be fascinating to watch what he could do with some serious resources.

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OPINION | EDITORIAL: Libertarians in the spotlight - Arkansas Online

Which weekend op-ed headline team are you on? "Libertarians Spoil the Election: Jo Jorgensen exceeds Biden's margin in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia," by Walter Block? Or "One Group Is Unreservedly Happy About the Election Results: Libertarians are pleased to have likely dodged the bullet of one-party government control," by Liz Mair? (As you know, there can only be two choices in American politics)

The Reason Roundtable podcast, featuring as it does four small-l libertarians (Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, Matt Welch, and Katherine Mangu-Ward), has a range of views on the subject. On today's episode we discuss the promise and pitfalls of divided government, the worrying and soon-to-be-goosed trend toward pen-and-phone governance, the glass-half-full vs. glass-should-be-thrown-against-the wall interpretation of the Libertarian Party's Tuesday, and also the marvelous late-breaking news that a COVID-19 vaccine appears to be incoming.

Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.

Music: "CGI Snake" by Chris Zabriskie.

Relevant links from the show:

"Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Is 90% Effective," by Ronald Bailey

"Joe Biden's Presidency Is Coming. It Will Be Bad In Predictable Ways," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"According to Trump, Nearly Everyone Is Conspiring To Deny Him His Rightful Victory," by Jacob Sullum

"Joe Biden Declared Winner of Presidential Race," by Billy Binion

"Feeling Good About the Future After an Ugly Election," by Nick Gillespie

"Georgia Will Determine the Nation's Political Fate," by Billy Binion

"Joe Biden's Endless River of Debt and Regulation," by Nick Gillespie

"The 2020 Election Results Look Like a Massive Rebuke of Socialism," by Robby Soave

"Twitter's Flagging of Trump's Post-Election Tweets Is Haphazard, Irrational, and Ineffectual," by Jacob Sullum

"Democrats' Crumbling Hopes of a Blue Wave Make Divided Government More Likely," by Billy Binion

"Brian Riedl: Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and $6 Trillion Budgets," by Nick Gillespie

"America's Disastrous Drug War Is Finally Unravelling," by Regan Taylor

"Yesterday's Clean Sweep for Drug Policy Reform Suggests That Prohibition May Collapse Sooner Than Expected," by Jacob Sullum

"On Election Night, the Real Winner Was Drugs," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"What's Next for the Libertarian Party After Jo Jorgensen Got 1%?" by Zach Weissmueller

"Where Do Libertarians Go From Here?" by Steven Greenhut

"Meet Marshall Burt, Who's About To Become the Libertarian Party's Only Sitting State Legislator," by Brian Doherty

"Think Jo Jorgensen Is a Spoiler? Run These Numbers First," by Matt Welch

"You Are Not Entitled to Libertarian Votes," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

"Jo Jorgensen Heading Toward Second-Best Result in Libertarian Party History," by Matt Welch

"Maybe Jo Jorgensen Finishing With 1% Would Actually Be Pretty Good?" by Matt Welch

"Who Should Libertarians Vote For in 2020? A Soho Forum Debate," by John Osterhoudt

"What Is the Ideal Strategy for the Libertarian Party? A Soho Forum Debate," by John Osterhoudt

"Video: Nick Gillespie and Walter Block Debate Whether Libertarians Should Vote for Trump," by Nick Gillespie

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Maybe the Election Results Were Kinda Good for Libertarians? - Reason

INDIANAPOLIS If you voted in last weeks election, you were part of the 66.4% of Americans who turned out, the most since 1900. But with President-elect Joe Biden currently at a record 77.55 million votes and President Trumps 72.34 million votes giving the former a 5.2 million lead at this writing (and 279 to 217 in the Electoral College), America remains a sharply divided nation.

Gov. Eric Holcomb and Trump won landslide victories in Indiana. But Holcomb appears to have missed Gov. Evan Bayhs 25.1% plurality record set back in 1992, winning 56.6%-32% over Democrat Woody Myers, with Libertarian Donald Rainwater picking up 11.4%. Holcombs 1,702,902, with 99% of the vote reporting, did set a new record while winning 89 of Indianas 92 counties.

Trump defeated Biden in Indiana, 57% to 40.9% in winning 88 counties, compared to his 56.5% to 37.5% win over Hillary Clinton in 2016 (Libertarian Gary Johnson picked up 4.9%). Trumps 1.727 million votes eclipsed the 1.557 million votes four years ago, meaning that he was able to find more of his base.

If there were a silver lining for the moribund Indiana Democrats, its that Biden carried Carmel (51%) and Fishers (48.9%), while Trump carried Hamilton County with 52.2%, compared to 56% in 2016. This continues a long trend of Hamilton County turning purple after Mitt Romney carried the county with 66.2% in 2012, John McCain won it with 60.6% in 2008 in a year when Barack Obama actively sought Indianas 11 Electoral College votes, and President George W. Bush won it in 2000 and 2004 with 74%.

Going into this election, Democrats were counting on the suburban female vote to turn the tide in the 5th Congressional District and a handful of Indiana House races. But in other suburban counties, Trump easily won with 57.9% in Boone County, 65.8% in Johnson, 67.6% in Hancock, 58% in Clark, 56% in Floyd and 52% in Porter. His warnings of socialism and against defunding the police were persuasive.

Nationally, Trump confounded the purple suburban vote that had been expected to propel Democrat Christina Hale in the 5th CD and set up Democratic House gains nationally. Republicans actually picked up seats. Exit polling by Edison Research revealed that Trump lost women by 13% in 2016, and by 15% this year. Trump lost white, college-education women by 9% this year, compared to 7% in 2016. Trump actually lost more ground with college-educated men, winning that demographic by 3% this year, compared to his 14% edge in 2016.

Trump was expected to be punished for his handling of the pandemic, but an Associated Press analysis revealed that in 376 counties with the highest number of new cases per capita, the overwhelming majority 93% of those counties went for Trump. Personal freedom trumped personal responsibility for the greater public good in many areas. In pandemic hard-hit Cass County, Trump polled 69.5%; he won Fountain County with 77.1%; Warren County with 76%; Elkhart with 63.3%; Noble with 73.9%; and Wayne County with 65.5%. All of these counties had seen a spike in COVID cases heading into the election.

While the pandemic didnt hurt Trump with his GOP base, it cost him the election with independents. According to Mehlman Castagnetti Group, exit polling showed 55% disapproved of Trumps handling of the pandemic (47% strongly) while 83% said the federal governments response was an important factor, with 39% saying it was the single most important factor.

Trump and Biden were able to emphatically carry the bases on their parties. The difference came with independent voters, which Trump carried by 4% over Hillary Clinton in 2016, but lost by 13% to Biden last week. That 17% swing is why Biden is poised to be the 46th president.

In poll after poll throughout 2020, Americans trusted Trump over Biden in handling the economy. In September, a Gallup Poll found that despite the pandemic, shutdown and economic crisis, 56% of Americans said they were better off than they were four years ago, which has become the standard wallet axiom coined by Ronald Reagan in 1980.

But Trump made two costly mistakes. He consistently stepped on his own messaging on the economy while failing to control the pandemic by urging face masking; and he demonized absentee balloting during an unprecedented pandemic. U.S. Rep. Jim Banks told me, His rhetoric about mail-in ballots was extremely damaging. Think about that. If he had encouraged his supporters to mail in their ballots, he would have won this race in a landslide.

While the pandemic didnt cost Trump support among his base, Holcomb was deprived of a record landslide (by plurality, not total vote) over conservative critics of his mask mandate.

In Fulton County, Holcomb defeated second-place finisher Rainwater 59.5%-22.9%; in Cass County he won with 58%, with Rainwater polling 19.4%; in Owen County, Holcomb defeated Rainwater 59.5% to 21.7%; Martin County, Holcomb 63.1% to 23% for Rainwater; Rush County, Holcomb 62.8% to 21.8% for Rainwater; Montgomery County, Holcomb 61.6% to 22.4% for Rainwater; Kosciusko County, Holcomb 64.9% to 19.2% for Rainwater; Fountain County, 65.3% for Holcomb and 20.3% for Rainwater.

The Holcomb campaign will argue that Rainwaters support including a dozen or so second-place finishes for the Libertarian cut into Myers totals. But with Myers running the worst gubernatorial campaign in modern Hoosier history, without the pandemic and mask mandate, Holcomb would have easily broken Evan Bayhs plurality record.

The columnist is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana at http://www.howeypolitics.com. Find Howey on Facebook and Twitter @hwypol.

Excerpt from:
Howey: Takeaways from the election - South Bend Tribune