The Libertarian National Convention Is On A Roll

The Libertarian Party’s National Convention is off to a good start in Denver. It will run until May 26th, and between now and then over a thousand delegates will decide between 14 different candidates for the presidential nominee. Unlike Republican and Democratic delegates, Libertarian delegates are not pledged to a particular candidate in advance.

Allow me to interpret: nobody quite knows who will be the Libertarian nominee yet. In my opinion, no matter your political party, we’re looking at a far more entertaining convention this weekend than either the Republicans or Democrats will stage in the next couple of months.

Highlights from the Convention so far:

•  Newspapers, such as The Washington Times, are focusing on the fact that one of the first events of the convention was a reception hosted by the Marijuana Policy Project. Implications seem to include that all Libertarian candidates must smoke pot.
• A small group of Libertarian Party members have accused Bob Barr (a former Republican) of attempting to hijack the party towards more conservative values.
• Rumors are circulating about more names being tossed in the hat, including Tucker Carlson, the former host of Crossfire.
• The numerous comments on Ron Paul’s absence (he has run as a Libertarian candidate in the past).
• The rising support of a number of conservatives who don’t wish to throw in with John McCain.

The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the U.S., with over 600 elected officials to their credit. As of the beginning of May, the Libertarian Party will be on the presidential ballot in 28 states. Two lawsuits are pending against state officials (Oklahoma and Pennsylvania), meaning that the Libertarian candidate could get on the ballots in both those states — as well as others where there is still a chance of meeting ballot requirements. South Dakota residents, however, will definitely not be seeing Libertarians on their ballots.