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Im going to say this as simply as possible: Rand Paul is the best member of the Senate and the most libertarian leaning senator in over half a century, comparable to Robert Taft, who was the Senate Majority Leader in the early 1950s. Rand Paul was this man who in 2009 I remember seeing announce a bid for the Senate and felt it was kind of a long shot. He went up against a popular statewide-elected Republican in a primary, and via small online donations, a realistic take on libertarianism that fits the demographics of Kentucky, and a ton of work from volunteers, he won both the primary and general elections in landslide wins. He was elected to the Senate and for the last six years proposed countless bills on criminal justice reform, economic reform, the best foreign policy the post-9/11 Senate can offer.

But, libertarians now are just being hostile to him like they had been to Bill Weld, Gary Johnson and anyone wanting to expand the base so it isnt just a club on the Internet, and it freaking sucks.

First off, Rand Paul isnt perfect. Hes human, he has a tough job and is trying to be many things to many people, which is how mistakes happen. One of those mistakes was the abortion known as his 2016 campaign. It was the Land of Boring where he just acted like a regular Republican, had horrible media content, a detached staff, lack of ability to fundraise and focused on C level issues people dont care about, such as Planned Parenthood and the NSA, which proved to be yawn topics. The campaign peaked with a CPAC, and the Flat and Fair tax plan, which was a pretty awesome proposal, but fell flat with a campaign focused on making useless phone calls to talk about how Rand was your ordinary anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-abortion and anti-legalization Republican. I was 100% aware the campaign was not a success.

I wanted a Rand Paul whod just come out and say gay marriage should be legal and not half-ass it with, We should have nameless civil unions nationally!

I wanted a Rand Paul who would say Immigration is a free market and Im proud Ive introduced amendments to make it simpler!

I wanted a Rand Paul who would go up on the debate stage and say Let me make something clear. Black Lives Matter and thats why Ive proposed all my criminal justice reform laws!

I wanted a Rand Paul whod be like Donald Trump was in the debates, looking Jeb Bush in the eye and saying Your legacy and your team is the team who screwed America on Iraq.

I wanted a Rand Paul who would actually have more clear solutions on energy, education and health care, similar to what he had on taxes.

I wanted a Rand Paul which bragged about how hes had bills co-sponsored with everyone from Ted Cruz to Barbara Boxer and hes the most bipartisan senator.

But, heres what I like about Rand Paul:

Rand Paul is awesome on fiscal issues. Hes by far the most fiscally conservative member of the Senate and has time after time proposed balanced and simple budgets.

Rand Paul is basically the lone fighter in the Senate on the NSA and poor data collection.

Rand Paul works with everyone and has co-sponsored bills with Cory Booker, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Barbara Boxer, Pat Leahy and others.

Rand Paul is Americas Black Lives Matter senator. He wrote a chapter in his book praising the movement for bringing up valid issues in America, had the guts to go out and take a meeting with Al Sharpton, and talks about criminal justice issues, admitting our legal system is rigged against the poor and minorities; middle class white people do drugs and other crimes just as much, but never get the same searches or penalties as poor minorities.

Rand Pauls foreign policy proposals, while not perfect, is the best option we have.

I like everything hes done in the Senate and dont think it was a bad idea he voted for Jeff Sessions and Betsy DeVos. I hated them and Im pretty sure deep down he did also. However, when hes trying to repeal and replace Obamacare, cut spending, cut regulation and not go to war, him being blacklisted by the new administration for voting against Sessions and DeVos would have sidelined his voice and advocacy.

But, there are so many libertarians that hate Rand Paul, and to them I say: shut the hell up! If youre so much better than Rand, Bill or Gary, go elect your own little purist to office and see how many reforms can get done. However, until that point, realize managing a state or an office in the US Senate is a lot different than talking about Murray Rothbard on some podcast!

This post was written by Charles Peralo.

The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.

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If You're a Libertarian & Hate Rand Paul, You're the Problem - Being Libertarian

National Libertarian Party vice chair Arvin Vohra, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, is the keynote speaker at the Colorado Libertarian Party Convention March 24-26, 2017, in Westminster. (Photo courtesy Arvin Vohra)

The vice chair of the National Libertarian Committee and a frequent candidate for federal office in Maryland, Arvin Vohra, headlines a diverse group of speakers including past presidential candidates this weekend at the Colorado Libertarian Party convention in Westminster, the party announced.

The partys convention runs Friday-Sunday, March 24-26, at the Westin Hotel in Westminster the home of Libertarian Party co-founder David Nolan and, in a distinction it shares with Colorado Springs, the birthplace of the party. The weekend is filled with speeches, panel discussions and entertainment, including casino-style games and dancing to a live band.

The party will elect state officers and consider its platform and bylaws in the morning on Saturday and Sunday. Anyone can attend these functions, but only Colorado residents registered as Libertarian for at least 90 days can participate. Tickets for other convention events, including Saturdays banquet and keynote address, are available at the state partys online store.

Vohra, an author and founder of the Vohra Method education service, ran for the U.S. Senate in Maryland last year as a write-in candidate and ran for two different congressional seats in the state the two elections before that. His main campaign themes have been eliminating the federal income tax, ending the drug war, repealing gun free school zones and cutting military spending by at least 60 percent.

Publisher and pundit Austin Peterson, who came in second to former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson in last years crowded Libertarian presidential primary conservative leaders Mary Matalin and Erick Erickson were among those endorsing his presidential bid is also slated to speak.

Coloradan Matthew Hess, a systems administrator and former gubernatorial and congressional candidate, is a recipient of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award and a past candidate for Douglas County commissioner. His philosophy, he says, is spreading the message of freedom and liberty in Colorado, reversing the gun control legislation, cutting taxes and getting government out of the way of businesses.

Another speaker, Nebraska state Sen. Laura Ebke, was elected to that states non-partisan legislature in 2014 and then changed her registration to Libertarian last year. She was a state leader of Ron Pauls presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 and founded the Republican Liberty Caucus of Nebraska. Last year, she led the effort to ban civil forfeiture in the state.

Steve Kerbel, another 2016 Libertarian presidential hopeful, is also scheduled to speak. The author of Take Everyman Down, described as an eye-opening piece showing who is truly responsible for the condition of our country, Kerbel runs the Truth in Polling nonprofit and plans to support ballot initiatives to promote liberty nationwide.

The convention will also include a discussion about alternative voting methods, such as Approval Voting and Ranked Choice Voting.

ernest@coloradostatesman.com

approval voting, Arvin Vohra, civil forfeiture, Colorado Libertarian Party, David Nolan, Erick Erickson, Gary Johnson, Laura Ebke, Libertarian Party, Mary Matalin, matthew hess, Nebraska, ranked choice voting, Westminster

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National vice chair among liberty luminaries set to speak at state ... - The Colorado Statesman

Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld chided the media for taking "the bait" every time President Trump tweets.

In an interview with the Boston Herald's Inside Track, Weld, who ran as 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson's running mate, said journalists are enabling Trump's agenda by breaking "one of the rules of politics" by jumping on every 140-character message sent by the president.

"One of the rules in politics is don't go for the bait," Weld said. "When someone drags a wiggly nightcrawler in front of you, don't snap at it every time. The media seems to be snapping at every single tweet that Mr. Trump does and I think he knows exactly what he's doing. The media is making it work for him."

Weld went on the say that Trump is having "fun" in his war against the media, in which he often singles out certain certain outlets like CNN and the New York Times for criticism and calling them "fake news."

Despite the sometimes questionable nature of the tweets, which sometimes verges on the edge of conspiracy (i.e. Trump's tweets alleging without proof about President Barack Obama wiretapping Trump tower), Weld said the president is confident the media will cover him "no matter what he says or does."

"I think he's having fun with the media," Weld said. "He knows they're going to cover him no matter what he says or does, so there's no penalty for dabbling in alternative reality."

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Libertarian VP nominee Bill Weld chides media for taking Trump's ... - Washington Examiner

On Friday, conservative pundit Tomi Lahren declared that she is pro-choice, because "I can't sit here and be a hypocrite and say I'm for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies." Libertarian YouTube star Julie Borowski shot down this argument in less than two minutes. (Related: Will Tomi Lahren lose her job?)

"It is not hypocritical for limited government people to be legally pro-life," Borowski declared. "We do not advocate for a society where people can do whatever they want."

In her classic sarcastic style, the YouTube star mocked the view that libertarians have to support an anarchic society without any limits on human freedom. "Murder, theft, rape, go for it, liberty!" The libertarian response to this would be "No, these things would still be illegal for good reason."

Borowski laid out the non-aggression principle: the key question is "is there a victim? With abortion, pro-life people would say yes there is a victim the fetus. Therefore, it's not hypocritical to call for laws against abortion." She scathingly added, "To suggest otherwise means that you either think the fetus is not a victim, or you fundamentally misunderstand the concept of liberty." Ouch.

"The victim is still in another person's body, but he or she is still a human being with the right to life that's in the Constitution," the YouTube star explained. "It's only hypocritical to call for government bans when there are no victims. Drugs and prostitution I personally don't like those things, I think they're disgusting. But people have the liberty to put whatever they want and do God knows what to their own bodies."

Abortion is not a victim-less crime, and that is Borowski's point. The YouTube star acknowledged that outlawing abortion would be difficult, but the point of this short video is that Tomi Lahren is incorrect it is not hypocritical for libertarians to be pro-life. So long as genetics suggests a fetus is a human being (which it does), it might even be hypocritical for a libertarian who champions the right to life to be pro-choice.

Wouldn't that be ironic!

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Julie Borowski Shoots Down Tomi Lahren: Pro-Life Libertarians Aren't Hypocrites - PJ Media

Photo courtesy of Mark Wicks via Facebook

Theres a congressional election coming up on May 25th and three candidates are currently out barnstorming the state to gather votes and remind people that the special election actually exists.

Republican Greg Gianforte and Democrat Rob Quist have big-name parties to help promote their message and a head start. Libertarian Mark Wicks was picked at a nominating convention on Saturday March 11, nearly a week after his competitors, and now hes out explaining how he differs from the crowd.

With Gianforte theres a lot of stuff I agree on, but I think he goes a little too far right, Im a little more friendly to some of the alternative communities than I think he will be, Wicks said. With Quist, Im not in favor of sanctuary cities, I think we need to know whos coming into our country, I also know that immigrants are some of the best people we have in this country, but weve gotta know whos here.

Wicks says says he originally thought the special election would give a Libertarian an advantage, but now says that the short time-span of the special election makes it even more difficult to run a successful third-party campaign. Still, Wicks is using the outcome of the last general election as part of his campaign.

This campaign is a little different, you know, usually we dont know what the balance of power is going to be on election day: its all up in the air, every congressional seat is up in the air, but this time we know what the balance of power is going to be, if there is one more R or one more D its not going to change the balance of power.

Wicks says he would most likely caucus with the Republicans if elected and argues that a Libertarian in Washington D.C. would get more air time and coverage for Montana interests, because of the unique nature of his third-party role in congress.

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Montana Special Election Makes Tough Campaigning for Libertarian Candidate - Newstalkkgvo