A conservative AM radio host asked me about RFK Jr and the Libertarian Party
Here's what I told him.
The other day, a local conservative radio show (Kevin Wall Radio on KMAQ 670AM) invited me on to talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the possibility of him seeking the Libertarian Party’s nomination for US president. On this clip, it’s about 8 minutes in and goes about 15-20 minutes.
Kevin was a good host and we had a fun conversation. Being the Vice Chair of the Libertarian Party of Nevada, I used most of the time I had to preach the good word about libertarianism, but I also answered the man’s RFK Jr questions.
And it’s true, “Bobby Joo” has definitely been sniffing around libertarians for a year or so. Last year, he spoke at PorcFest, the annual week-long libertarian convention, camping trip, and party held in New Hampshire by the Free State Project.
This year, he spoke at the Libertarian Party of California state convention, and did a panel event with some of our LP presidential candidates. So, yeah. he’s sniffing around, alright. I’m sure he would love to run on the LP ticket.
The reason for that is simple. The LP has been around a while (since 1971) and we have scraped and clawed our way to having ballot access in almost all 50 states. And ballot access is a very difficult and expensive thing to achieve.
RFK Jr. is realizing that the hard way — and also how crooked our election system is here in the US. Early on, he learned how corrupt the Democratic National Committee was, locking the door to him in favor of their preferred crony, Biden.
But since deciding to run as an independent, he’s discovering just how “undemocratic” this here democracy is. The entrenched duopoly of Republicans and Democrats have rigged the system in most states to make it extremely expensive and time-consuming to get yourself on the ballot.
Despite being a very well-known name and having a big ground game and a respectable amount of money, RFK Jr has only managed to get ballot access in two states (NH and UT). He will get more, of course. But it’s costing him precious funds and precious time to do so.
Here in Nevada, he gathered 15,000 signatures (he needed only 10,000) but the Democratic Secretary of State is invalidating ALL of them. Why? Because he didn’t have a vice presidential running mate listed, a fact he asked the SOS about in advance and was told wasn’t required.
So yeah, RFK Jr would love to just hop on board our train. And in some ways, if he was our standard bearer this cycle, he would do the LP a lot of good. We would easily get the highest vote total ever.
He could even get a big enough percentage to win us ballot access in all 50 states and get our next candidate federal funds, just like the Republicans and Democrats do.
Hell, against the aged and much reviled duo of Biden and Trump, RFK Jr could even win.
The trouble is… RFK Jr isn’t a libertarian.
We all know the LP candidate for president is unlikely to win office. So why does the LP run one? We do so because every four years during election season the public pays a little attention to national politics.
That’s a moment when a good candidate can show them what libertarianism is, and why they should want it.
So, if that candidate isn’t communicating libertarianism, it makes our whole project kinda… pointless.
And yet, there are many libertarians who like RFK Jr. I am one of them. There are many who want RFK to be our nominee. I am not one of those. Let’s break it down.
First, the positive: When he first announced his presidential campaign (as a Democrat) libertarians rejoiced. On a libertarian metric, he is much better than the vast majority of Democrat politicians. Compared to Biden, RFK Jr is a knight in shining armor.
Why? Because RFK Jr was good on the Covid lockdowns. He was good on the vaccine and mask mandates. He was good on the Ukraine war. He even demonstrated a deep knowledge of the history involved and how NATO expansion largely provoked the bloody mess.
He is largely opposed to the bloody US empire and the trillions wasted on it — he wants to use that money on social welfare schemes, but nobody’s perfect.
He understands how corrupt Washington DC is. He understands how agencies like the FDA and the CDC are prone to regulatory capture and why “trusting the experts” isn’t a thing one should do in such a crooked system.
He understood that while immigration is a very good thing for a country (especially one such as ours with birth rates below replacement levels), what is happening on the southern border currently is a disaster.
He vowed to pardon Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, which is very good for free speech, journalism, and whistleblowing. We desperately need all three right now.
Perhaps best of all, he has an instinctive distrust of the nest of corrupt and bureaucratic vipers we all collectively refer to as the Deep State. After all, those snakes murdered his uncle (and perhaps his father).
So as a Democrat or independent, RFK Jr was hugely welcomed on the national political scene by libertarians.
But then he started talking about other issues. Not so good. And then we all took a look at the Policies section of his campaign website. Even worse.
He advocates for 3% government-backed mortgages to all future home buyers, and the catastrophic market dislocation that would cause. He favors a $15/hr national minimum wage — say goodbye to thousands of businesses in rural America. He wants to prosecute “union-busting” corporations, whatever the hell that means in 2024.
He wants to give “free” childcare to millions of families. He wants to restrict natural gas exports. He seems even more protectionist than Trump (one of Trump’s worst qualities) vowing to “negotiate trade deals” by raising tariffs on foreign imports.
He wants to cut interest rates on student loans to zero (what could go wrong?). He wants to “cut drug costs in half” (how?). He wants to nationalize local zoning laws in an effort to “fix” housing (so much for federalism).
He wants to destroy the gig economy (Uber, Lyft, etc) by forcing them to “employee-ize” their independent contractor drivers. So much for free choices made by free people.
Go read his website. On issue after issue after issue RFK Jr reveals himself as a typical big-government Democrat. He believes that the centralized power of the coercive state can solve every social ill.
He understands nothing about the perverse negative consequences to a society once the government and its army of gun-toting bureaucrats starts barking orders at everyone.
He understands nothing about economics. He understands nothing about the poison that is government force.
So, no. Unless the man has some kind of amazing “come to Jesus” moment, I don’t want him representing himself as a libertarian to a curious populace.
Could he have such a conversion? Maybe. Put me in a room with him for an afternoon. I’ll give it a go. Or have him sit down alone and read Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State. Then read it again. And again.
It’s a shame. I favor RFK Jr’s inclusion in the race. As a Democrat or an independent, I welcome it. I believe he wants what’s best for this country. He sees many of the problems we face and wants to help fix them.
But he doesn’t know how. The solution is freedom, but the only tool he has in his toolbox is a gun.
That’s not libertarian.
Naturally,
Adam
PS. Want to be exposed to a whole huge pile of the stuff that made me the way I am? Check out Tom Wood’s Liberty Classroom. I think you’ll love it, and it’ll help to keep me doing the things I do, writing and podcasting and such.
Thanks!