Ken Krawchuk says his numbers went up, not down. And I'm sure he thinks getting into the debates was a breakthrough for his campaign too.

Being included in the debates would be a huge victory for Libertarians. The presidential debates have a much bigger audience than governitorial debates.

It would be a breakthrough because we're not there now. When Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus, that may not have seemed like a big deal to people who had rode in the front of the bus regularly for years or who had seen African Americans ride in the front of the bus up north, but it was a very big deal to people previously not given that opportunity.

Chuck Moulton
Montgomery County Representative, LPPA Board
Region 5E Alternate, Libertarian National Committee
Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress, PA district 13
http://www.chuckmoulton.org/

> In these 13 words, you've just summed up everything that's wrong with our ...

...two-party, winner-take-all political system.

Part of the problem is the electoral system. It needs reform. There are better processes: IRV (instant runoff voting); approval voting and PR (proportional representation for multi-candidate legislative districts); the use of NOTA (none of the above) on ballots; etc. See http://ny.lp.org/issues/election_reform.htm for more info about those.

Yes, Libertarians and other third parties have what you like about the D's (certain freedoms) and what you might like about the R's (fiscal responsibility). For the most part, they just mean what the Republicans say but don't implement: smaller government, true freedom--'hands-off' of anyone not hurting anyone else. But Libertarians recruit at Gay Pride and Marijuana Marches (May 4th, worldwide!), which is how it's so easy to tell them apart from Republicans/Conservatives. They are also 100% with the 'geek lobby' on cyber and privacy issues, unlike either of the two major parties. They don't want to tax OR regulate the internet.

It's NOT hopeless or out of your control, which is the sense I'm getting from this thread. Get active. Get involved. We are fortunate to live in the age of the Information Revolution--don't waste it.

For those who trend communist (voluntary, hopefully), go Green. Otherwise, support your local Libertarian Party (in the U.S., Costa Rica, and other counties), which is the closest thing to anarchism that you can vote for.

http://www.lp.org/
http://www.gpus.org/

Please--our future depends on it.