The Demise of Libertarianism
The once-ascendant movement now seems dead in the water.
Once upon a time — 2013, to be precise — many major publications were proclaiming the beginning of the “libertarian moment”. Ron Paul, the libertarian darling of the Republican Party in 2012, had seen his bid for the nomination fail. This failure, though, came (correctly) to be seen as the result of GOP corruption more than anything else, and as such, it lit a fire under supporters across the country. The libertarian wing of the Republican Party had been ascendant ever since it successfully swept up the momentum of the Tea Party. After Romney swiped the nomination just to get beaten by Obama, it was vindicated, and it found convenient a new leader in Senator Rand Paul, the former Paul’s son. The Libertarian Party, meanwhile, saw itself secure a million votes in the 2012 general election for the first time ever under nominee Gary Johnson. Heading into 2016, then, libertarians had both a respectable third party contender and a major party champion with a real shot at the presidency.
All of that, as we know, collapsed. Even if Johnson was able to secure 3.3% of the vote in 2016, his campaign came as a sideshow to even many libertarians. Trump ripped up the handbook of American politics in a matter of months. Soon enough, he was President, and libertarians everywhere had nowhere…
