On September 6, Wayne Root, Libertarian vice-presidential nominee in 2008, switched from being a member of the Libertarian Party to being a member of the Republican Party. However, in a statement, he said, “If the GOP needs to keep Libertarian Party candidates off the ballot, then it shows a weakness in the GOP’s message. I will fight to get that message across…I will be a libertarian Republican fighting for the Libertarian Party’s right to have ballot access.”
This might be a good move for ballot access. I guess time will tell.
Words mean nothing, but action does talk. You know the Republicans will run someone against him should he run for Senate. And Romney will still probably lose this election, since most people just can’t support a Romney campaign.
Wayne Root = Opportunist
@3 I am taking this opportunity to 2nd that motion
That’s news? Man, does BAN have their priorities screwed up!
Real politics is opportunism. Real politics is not about what is philosophically right or wrong. Real politics is about manipulating the masses. The majority of voters are too stupid to ever understand the US Constitution or basic concepts of American republican democracy. Therefore any 3rd party that refuses to play puppet master and treats the average voter as a rational human being is screwed.
I thought he also said he was going to seek a seat in the U.S. Senate. I guess he must mean in 2016? That is when Harry Reid comes up again. I doubt he has much chance to even win the GOP nomination let alone unseat the Senate Democratic leader (whether he is still majority leader or not).
At 6, very wise words
Sure, we’re all disappointed that Root sold out to the GOP but he no doubt sees it as a means to an end. His Obama bashing (all unproven speculation) didn’t really have legs so he had to do something provocative. People are rallying behind Gary Johnson right now and I hope and pray enough of them come forward to get Gary Johnson into the national debate. While Root might be out of the business of liberty, Gary Johnson is still in.
Wayne Root is nothing more that a poser looking for any opportunity for personal gain. His latest political dalliance was at the expense of the Libertarian Party. As noted, he was an embarrassment to them. Now, Root is broke and in the crosshairs of the IRS. What better moment for the Mormons to offer him a pay-off to endorse Romney? Like the opportunist he is, Root took the pay-off to switch his pseudo allegiance from Gary Johnson to Romney. It’s people like Wayne Root that give politics a bad name.
I used to think Wayne Allyn Root was special. Now, it’s clear he is full of it. We know the country is in trouble and we are not going to get the problem solved with Romney or jokers like Root. I too would like to see guys like Gary Johnson get more press. Gary Johnson seems to be the only guy left in the race with any common sense.
WAYNE ROOT WOULD MAKE A GREAT PRESIDENT, FACE FACTS THE GOP IS CLOSER TO THE LIBERTARIAN POSITION THAN THE DEMOCRATS, LOOK AT THE FACTS MACBRIDE, PAUL AND BARR WENT BACK TO THE GOP
Wayne Allen Root is nothing but a self-promoting jerk. If he was a true Libertarian he would stick with the party and support the BEST candidate we have ever had – Governor Gary Johnson. I say good riddance to the old antiquated libertarians like Root who have keep the party down.
@13 But, those are the types the Ls like, as well as all parties using plurality and IRV single-winner elections.
If you want team work, it takes two or more people to elect a team. That’s why I’m am opposed to the ways of BAN and its owner, always perpetuating single-winners and crushing parliamentary activities (and I’m NOT writing about Robert’s rules of order type systems where 1/3rd votes will block 2/3rds, and where only single-winner elections are promoted)
The best way to achieve proportional representation is to use it, and by using I/we can identify the team players of whom Wayne Root is not one.
I identified Wayne Allen Root to not be a team player back in 2008 when I found he would not return phone calls. Unfortunately, he remains in the dark about how ranked choice voting (RCV) in multi-winner districts help provide the tool for such teamwork.
There’s two totally opposite psychologies, the pro-team psychology, and the team destructing psychology of “me, me, me” which gets promoted in single-winner districts and plurality elections. Plurality election are election that don’t use RCV, and single-winner districts.
The 9th USA Parliament works very well, we’re dynamic, inclusive and we’ve elected a national Cabinet of 60 and regularly rotate new members in all the time as we get better and improve every day.
http://www.usparliament.org
@J.D. FARGO, and that’s why Ron Paul and his supporting delegates were treated so well at the Republican convention? You can’t be serious? They ostracized their libertarian members.
Of course maybe Wayne Allen Root wants to mirror Ron Paul’s “success.” Personally I think it’s wrong for libertarians to laud Ron Paul if they want to build a party of less gov’t. The Republican Party is a party of big gov’t with big spending on military and serious intervention in our private lives.
I wish Wayne luck in his new Party. Romney stands for war, TARP, bank bailout,Patriot Act and vaguely promises a balanced budeget sometime in the future-and he can’t wait to bomb Iran. He’s the same as Bush and Obama- a big government Wall Street Republican-not a libertarian bone in his body. Good Luck with that.
Wayne Root has the worst false teeth I’ve ever seen. First loyalty is to Israel then USA. Took huge “personal loan” from Mormon lender to switch to Romney. Whore
Appreciate the words of Roger at # 17.
Totally agree.
As for ballot access, what can anyone at a Federal level do to help with state ballot access. The Libertarian Party needs to target some state assembly seats and WIN. Talk about a way to help protect an alternative parties ballot access.
“As for ballot access, what can anyone at a Federal level do to help with state ballot access. The Libertarian Party needs to target some state assembly seats and WIN.”
I’m pretty sure that Congress could pass a law for reasonable ballot access for all candidates for federal office, and that this law would be uniform for the entire country.
“LOOK AT THE FACTS MACBRIDE, PAUL AND BARR WENT BACK TO THE GOP”
Yes, and look at what happened after doing that. They all got elected to public office and fixed everything.
Oh, wait…..
The reality is that the GOP will take libertarians, so long as they sit down, shut up, and do the party’s bidding. They’ll promise that it’ll be your turn eventually, just work harder. And that time will never come. Arbeit macht frei.
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