Republican Senate Candidate Joe Miller did something unusual on Thursday: He spoke out in support of party that was not his own. The comments concerned the Libertarian Party, which could be in a position to gain converts from some dissent within the state GOP. <\/p>\n
As the states biggest organized political party, the GOP represents plenty of different sects. There are big businessmen, and small businessmen, religious conservatives, Tea Partiers, and a slew of other subgroups. <\/p>\n
The states Libertarian Party is not so big. Its membership has hovered around 7,000 voters since the Division of Elections began tracking their registration in the late 1990s. But there may be a perk to that: With fewer members, you can have more cohesion. <\/p>\n
Its obvious the GOP is fractured. Everyone is well aware of that, says Brad Leavitt, Alaska Libertarian Party vice chair and chair of its platform committee. And to be honest, were reaping the benefits. People are coming over, and theyre disgruntled. <\/p>\n
Leavitt says hes one of those guys. He only joined the Libertarian Party a year ago, and he often voted for Republican candidates before that. <\/p>\n
Now, Leavitt says hes seeing more interest in his party from the Ron Paul faction of the GOP. That group took over the GOP in 2012 in a coup, but then lost control a year later to the establishment wing. <\/p>\n
Because the Republican Party and the Libertarian Party platforms have a lot of things in common, Leavitt sees the organization appealing to some the insurgents who might feel marginalized in the Republican Party. And one of the biggest position differences between the two parties was recently taken out by the Libertarians. Where the Republicans have an anti-abortion plank in their platform, the Libertarian position was that government should stay out of abortion. <\/p>\n
Leavitt says the decision to remove it from the platform was: <\/p>\n
LEAVITT: To make it an individual choice. Be it the individuals decision one way or another. Its the same for the candidate not pigeonhole any candidate to say you must be this way or you must be that way. Its just its about liberty. <\/p>\n
That could make his party friendly to some of the Republican dissidents, including one big one: Joe Miller. <\/p>\n
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Libertarian Party Sees Opportunity In GOP Fractures<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Republican Senate Candidate Joe Miller did something unusual on Thursday: He spoke out in support of party that was not his own. The comments concerned the Libertarian Party, which could be in a position to gain converts from some dissent within the state GOP. As the states biggest organized political party, the GOP represents plenty of different sects. Continue reading