PROPOSITION: Libertarians Should Work Within the Two-Party System.

• Author: Massie, Thomas
• Position: The Debate Issue

AFFIRMATIVE: Republicans Get Elected; Libertarian Party Members Don't

REP. THOMAS MASSIE

IT'S MY OBSERVATION that libertarians argue about a lot of things, but at the end of the day we all want to reduce the size and scope of the federal government. So is it wise or useful for libertarians who want to shrink government to run for office as Libertarians? My answer is the same as my vote on the Republican version of Obamacare this term: Hell no!

First, there's the existence proof. Even on the worst days, there are two libertarians [Massie and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)] on the floor of the House of Representatives. On the best days there are a dozen. None of these libertarians are in the Libertarian Party. So if you want to introduce libertarian bills, force roll call votes to expose faux fiscal conservatives, speak on the floor about free markets, or vote for laws to protect civil liberties, you darn well better have a D or an R beside your name.

When I arrived in Congress, I was struck by the architecture. Everything is bifurcated. Two cloakrooms each for the Senate and House chambers. Two backrooms for every hearing room in the Capitol. I marveled at how two centuries of architects had successfully conspired, with marble, granite, and oak, to exclude a third party.

Truth be known, there are at least six parties in Congress, but they're shoehorned into the American concept of red team vs. blue team. If you want to field another team, you have to either completely replace one that's there now (within an election cycle or two) or work inside one that already exists. The most expedient path for libertarians is to work within the red team.

(To everyone with Trump Derangement Syndrome, please calm the hell down--I am not advocating that libertarians work with Russians.)

If a pure-as-the-wind-driven-snow Libertarian actually got elected, how long would he or she last before selling out? About an hour. You see, the first thing we do at the beginning of every Congress is to swear an oath to the Constitution as it exists, not as we want it to exist. Even after being trued up with 27 Amendments, the document is still chock full of stuff that sends many Libertarians into apoplexy: eminent domain, intellectual property, income tax, government-regulated currency, and those oh-so-dreadful post roads. "Support and defend" that at your national convention!

Now that I've fully alienated half my Twitter and Facebook followers, let me make the counter-case...