A New Direction

This was a big decision for me.  Ultimately, with the direction I've been taking and the direction others have been taking, I went forward with it.  I filled out the forms and paid the membership dues online earlier this month.  I'm still waiting for the membership card to arrive, but it's official as far as I'm concerned: I'm a member of the Libertarian Party.

Hard to believe, but yes, that's my name there!

The last few years, I've been reevaluating my political identity, reassessing where I stand on the issues and determining whether I could continue to call myself a conservative or whether I was now a libertarian.  The more I contemplated, the more I was agreeing with the libertarian stances, the more I was accepting the philosophy of libertarianism.

So, now I consider myself a libertarian, but why join the Libertarian Party?  After all, this is a party not exactly known for electing people to the office of President or the office of Governor or to nay of the 535 seats in either house of Congress, so why?  The answer is two-fold: firstly, looking at the platforms of both the Libertarians and the Republicans, I was more comfortable with the Libertarian platform.  The Republican platform as passed this year still leaves me with quite a few questions, while the Libertarian platform does more in offering solutions than leaving me with questions.

Secondly, the direction the Republican Party has taken, especially at the federal level, is one I've grown disgusted with.  The action taken by Speaker John Boehner in removing pro-liberty Republican Congressmen from key committees was the last straw, joining other egregious actions (i.e. what was done during the national Republican convention this past summer) in convincing me, as an American reminded of the importance of liberty, that the best direction to take is not via the Republican Party.

In the end, I believe the Libertarian Party is the best vehicle to advance the cause of liberty in America, regardless of the reasons cited in the arena of public debate for not doing so.  Hopefully, in future posts here, I'll be able to convince you.

Update (Dec. 31st, 11:41 AM EST): I received my membership card in the mail today; I've been a member officially for two weeks now.  Not a bad way to start the new year.