| Libertarian Party of NY -- Campaign 2004 < /td> |
by Jim Lesczynski
The tortoise won the race. While all the "smart money" was on movie producer Aaron Russo or talk show host Gary Nolan to get the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination at the national convention in Atlanta last weekend, mild-mannered computer programmer and constitutional scholar Michael Badnarik surprised everyone, including himself, by emerging as the victor on the third ballot.
When you're an unknown even in the small pond of the libertarian movement, that's really saying something. However, what Badnarik lacks in credentials, money or celebrity he makes up for in sheer earnestness. He is our very own Mr. Smith going to Washington, wearing his heart and his principles on his sleeve. Like many other delegates, I went to Atlanta last weekend leaning towards the lovable rogue Aaron Russo, the latest erstwhile savior of the Libertarian Party, who would propel us to new prominence through his show-business friends and Hollywood savvy. Others were inclined toward the polished Gary Nolan, the most "presidential" of the lot and the one with years of experience behind of microphone and tons of media connections. I suppose there had to be a few delegates who went into the convention knowing they would vote for Badnarik, but they sure were quiet about it.
So how did Clark Kent emerge as Superman? I've seen a lot of theories thrown around the Internet since the convention adjourned, but in my opinion there were three major factors that contributed to Badnarik's upset victory. First, he absolutely kicked butt in the debates. For somebody who had flown so far below the radar, he rose to the occasion at exactly the right moment, on national television and when many delegates were seeing and hearing him for the first time. (I know I wouldn't have been able to pick Badnarik out of a lineup prior to the debate.) Second, Russo and Nolan had mediocre to poor debate performances. I had seen both men do much better on other occasions. Russo gave credence to the fear that he was somewhat of a loose cannon and soft on libertarian fundamentals by flubbing a question on the environment and mocking a free market solution. Nolan's answers were for the most part acceptable, but canned. He made Al Gore sound sincere.
The debate was sure to generate some support for Badnarik, but it would never have earned him the victory without the third and deciding factor, which was the bad blood between the Nolan and Russo camps. I don't know who decided to "go negative" first, but as far as I could tell Russo rarely missed an opportunity to take a shot at the Nolan campaign instead of just focusing on his own message.
After the first round of balloting on Sunday, the delegates were essentially split evenly among the three leading contenders, with just a smattering of votes for two other fringe candidates. (Yes, that's the fringe of the LP, which is about as fringe as you can get.) On the second ballot, it was 256 votes for Russo, 254 for Badnarik and 246 for Nolan. Under other circumstances, when Nolan was eliminated most of his voters would have probably switched to the other serious candidate, Russo. But due to the pissing match between the two of them, Nolan went up to the microphone after he was eliminated and told all his supporters to vote for Badnarik, which was probably unnecessary at that point.
So where does that leave us? In my opinion, it leaves us with a really terrific candidate. Michael Badnarik has a way of, as his campaign slogan puts it, "lighting the fires of liberty one mind at a time." I knew a few true believers in Michael as early as last January, but I didn't believe it myself until I saw him with my own eyes. He is principled, intelligent and immensely likable, a natural-born teacher. To the extent that he does get an opportunity to get in front of people, I can't imagine him not winning them over. How many of those opportunities he gets will largely be up to us, as Badnarik came to the convention with no money and a one-man staff. That's changing rapidly now that he is the nominee, but he is still starting way behind the 8-ball.
One of the more humorous postscripts of the convention was the scuttlebutt Monday morning over Michael's "tax situation." According to the rumors, Badnarik may have a problem with the IRS, including the possibility that he may not have filed a tax return at all for the last 10 years. There was also the story that he doesn't have a driver's license. I don't know if any of these rumors are true, except that Badnarik's campaign manager announced from the stage Monday morning that they were working on Michael's tax situation, but let's assume for the moment that they are. Many self-proclaimed libertarians at the convention were so angry about this that they were ready to have a recall vote less than a day after the nomination. To which I say, are you people nuts? Personally, I am thrilled over the possibility of having a candidate who refuses to recognize the government's authority to steal the fruits of his labor or force him to carry a state ID. More power to him.
I hope that supporters of the other candidates will get behind Michael Badnarik, because he's a good man, a good libertarian and entirely worthy of our support. For those crybabies in the Nolan and Russo camps who insist that the LP has blown its chance to be a factor in the upcoming election by rejecting the candidates who would have run serious, competitive races, they need to ask themselves one question. As Reason.com noted this week, if Nolan and/or Russo are such awesome campaigners, how is it they got their butts kicked by a nobody like Michael Badnarik?
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