Libertarian Reform Caucus

The Libertarian Reform Caucus is a coalition of American Libertarians operating as an internal caucus of the Libertarian party. Their aim is to gear the party toward winning elections in the near term, a goal they believe to be incompatible with preserving a rigid doctrinal purity. The caucus asserts that "the biggest factor holding the Libertarian Party back is a platform that is excessively radical and does not set priorities."^[1]

[edit] Statement of Purpose

Members of the Libertarian Reform Caucus are those who agree with the following Statement of Purpose:

"We, the members of the Libertarian Reform Caucus believe that America needs a real libertarian party, a party that promotes liberty while being conscious of political reality, a party designed to win elections and begin rolling back excess government now."

In particular, the party needs, according to the LRC:

• "A platform that proposes a realistic vision for the next few years, as opposed to an idealistic vision of a libertarian future. The public expects a party platform to show what a party's candidates intend to do during the next term of office. If the party wants a long term vision statement, it should be in a separate document labeled as such."

• "A platform that unites libertarians rather than dividing them. Where libertarians disagree, the platform should be silent. The party should be a tool for all libertarians."

• "A platform based on the realization that there are other important values in addition to the non-initiation of force. Freedom is extremely valuable, but it is not the only value."

[edit] Mission

"It is time to reform the Libertarian Party, to make the platform moderate enough so that victory is possible."

[edit] History

The Libertarian Reform Caucus was founded in early 2005 by members of the Libertarian Party of Buncombe County, NC. As of July, 2006, it claimed more than 700 caucus members from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, about half of whom were current Libertarian Party members, with most of the others considering joining (or returning to) the LP based on the caucus's prospective success.^[2]

At the Libertarian Party's 2006 national convention in Portland, Oregon, delegates chose (in a "retain or delete" vote process) to eliminate about three quarters of the specific planks in the party's platform.^[3] While the LRC did not claim a majority of delegates as caucus members, the consensus in both the LRC and the LP generally seems to be that the LRC's activism and convention presence were largely responsible for that outcome.^[4] While claiming "victory," LRC leaders also acknowledged that they had not been able to muster the votes to replace many of the deleted planks with their preferred alternatives, or to accomplish their goal of eliminating the party's membership "pledge".

[edit] Criticism

Some libertarians feel that the efforts of the Libertarian Reform Caucus "water down" the ideals of the Libertarian Party by removing those "planks" that make the party most distinctive. It could be argued that by abrogating philosophical consistency and adherence to libertarian ideals, the party no longer can truly be considered libertarian, save in name.

Following the 2006 Libertarian National Convention, a Facebook group titled "Libertarians for the Return of the 80% of the Platform which was Deleted" was created. The description of this group, which sums up well the objections some libertarians hold to the LRC, reads as follows:

We liked the platform the way it was.
We don't believe changing the platform will help us win elections.
We don't believe the platform was a detriment to our winning elections, despite that supposedly being the reason 80% of it was deleted.
We feel the party can run both pragmatic and idealistic candidates, but that the platform should be detailed and intelligent as it was in 2004.
Not all Republican candidates agree with the Republican platform. Not all Democratic candidates agree with the Democratic platform. And we understand and accept that not all Libertarian candidates will agree with the Libertarian platform. But this is no excuse for slashing the platform.
We share [Lew] Rockwell's concern that this change will cause problems for the Libertarian Party[1], but we remain optomistic that the Party of Principle is not dead.
We agree with [Doug] Stanhope that it will be hard to effectively accomplish winning elections without at the same time using the Libertarian Party as a vehicle to educate the American people about libertarian principles, goals, and solutions[2].

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "About the LRC" (retrieved 07/17/06)
2. ^ "LRC Membership Statistics" (retrieved 07/17/06)
3. ^ LP News, 07/12/06
4. ^ Hammer of Truth, 07/08/06

[edit] External links

• Official site