Harry Browne

The Presidential candidate for whom I voted in 2000 passes on. He was a decent man, with fairly good ideas - ideas simple enough to be correct and also simple enough to be dismissed by the intellectual elites as lunacy. So it goes. The LPs have an unfortunate, yet self-inflicted, history of nominating weak candidates to the Presidential ticket that have a hard time articulating their ideas to the great unwashed. Harry was no exception. For the life of me, I cannot figure out the Party's motivations. A profound and unwavering loser-complex perhaps. While I agree that it is important to rally behind someone that embraces the core libertarian philosophy, in the modern glitz and glam era -- a winning ticket mandates a show. Think John Kerry's $1000 haircut. Or GW mending fences at sunrise for the Fox News cameras. We live in the age of earthtones and the soundbite. Unfortunately for us all, neither this guy, nor this guy, or even this guy would have the slightest shot at the big time today. So, the LPs need to face these facts and choose their candidates accordingly. The Republicans managed to learn this lesson with Bob Dole in '96. Anyway, peace be to you, Mr. Brown and thanks for this book.