Following my post,
Conspiracy Theory: Ron Paul Inc. Teams Up With the GOP Establishment, I received calls from a number of observers of the libertarian movement. One chided me for giving an impression in the post that Ron Paul Inc members were once libertarian and that they are just now slipping. He made a very strong case that the members of Ron Paul Inc are opportunists and were so even when they worked directly on the 2012 Ron Paul campaign. They hold no libertarian principles and use libertarianism as a tool to advance their power.
Two callers pointed out to me the curious fact that Ed Crane is backing the Libertarian Party candidate in the race, Robert Sarvis. WaPo reports:
Libertarian Robert Sarvis is getting some late financial help in his uphill fight for Virginia governor against better-funded foes Ken Cuccinelli II and Terry McAuliffe.
[Ed Crane's] Purple PAC — a group devoted to backing candidates who are “‘red’ when it comes to economic policy, ‘blue’ when it comes to social policy” — launched a six-figure television ad buy Thursday designed to boost Sarvis’s campaign by painting him as a more appealing choice than Cuccinelli (R) or McAuliffe (D).
Here's the Crane ad:
Both observers note that Crane is not ignorant of the fact that Sarvis is not gong to win. This ad buy will only help out the Democrat McAuliffe, by drawing votes away from Cuccinelli and into the Sarvis corner. Some suspect that the Kochs have Cuccinelli in their pocket and that the Crane sponsorship of Sarvis is a way to get back at the Kochs, who booted him from the Cato Institute. In other words, backroom politics is running this race, not principle.
Indeed, there are no real libertarians among the three running, as I pointed out early on, Sarvis is far from a principled libertarian. This is not surprising, his "libertarian" thinking was molded inside the Beltway. He has a Master's in economics from George Mason University.
The pro-Cuccinelli operatives are sending out a negative email about Sarvis, identifying the various ways Sarvis leaks from libertarian principle. Curiously, though, the email is being sent out by
Russ Moulton, a defense contractor! Support of a candidate by a defense contractor should not be seen by a libertarian as anywhere near a positive endorsement.
Bottom line:
There are no strong libertarian candidates in this race, Sarvis appears to be a hardcore beltarian, Cuccinelli is simply a mainstream establishment Republican and McAuliffe is a typical establishment Democrat. There is nothing in this race that libertarians should be excited about. The only reason I have put it on the map, here at EPJ, is because
Ron Paul, probably under pressure from Ron Paul Inc, has endorsed Cuccinelli. It would be nice to see Cuccinelli lose, which would be a signal to the opportunists at Ron Paul Inc that Ron Paul followers are not going to follow Ron when he makes establishment endorsements.
The best thing for libertarians in Virginia to do in next week's vote is A. sit out this vote and every vote. B. Vote for Sarvis, he is not going to win, but votes going to him won't go to Cuccinelli and will signal that the Ron Paul movement is not buying into Ron Paul Inc.
