No More Ron Paul

Ron Paul has conceded that he will not win the Republican presidential nomination. Anyone who cares about war, civil liberties and out of control federal spending owes Paul a debt of gratitude for so passionately championing these issues in the national conversation. Paul may even be able to make a nice stink at the Republican convention in August with the delegates that he's won. But a Paul is no longer a serious option for voters in the remaining primary states. And he won't be on the ballot in November. This leaves libertarians with five choices for the remainder of the campaign:
- Support Hillary Clinton
- Support John McCain
- Support a third party candidate
- Stay home on election day
- Support Barack Obama

This blog will make the case for Obama. I don't think it will take much to convince libertarians - especially those who, like Paul, believe that endless war is the greatest threat facing America - that Clinton and McCain don't deserve their votes. A small percentage of libertarians will switch their affinity from Paul to the motley crew of third party candidates who not only can't win, but probably won't even be able to get their messages heard. I don't know if I will be able to change these voters' minds.

But I think that most libertarians will struggle over the next several months to decide whether to support Obama or to sit out this election. These are the people that I want to reach. I do not support Obama because I believe that he is the lesser of the evils. I support him because I believe that he will bring changes to this country that libertarians can enthusiastically support, even if he is not strictly libertarian himself. On issue after issue - including ending the Iraq war (and its massive spending), restoring civil liberties, reining in the federal budget by enacting paygo rules and preventing a new war with Iran - Obama offers policies that libertarians should enthusiastically support.

If I haven't convinced you yet, I hope you will engage me in the comments section, or at least keep reading over the coming months as I make my case.