Why I'm Okay With Obama

I know libertarian opinion varies as to whether (a) Democrats are marginally better then Republicans, (b) Republicans are marginally better than Democrats, (c) it's better to vote LP, (d) it's better to abstain entirely, and (e) voting is unimportant. But it being Nov 5th, all I want to talk about now is why yesterday was fine with me.

I voted for Ron Paul in the primary (in MA, you can vote in any primary regardless of affiliation; I am not a member of any party) in the possibly-naive hope that the GOP might actually start embracing the free-market policies they so often talk about. But Paul, for whom I voted back in 88, was roundly rejected by the GOP. I still thought I might vote LP or abstain, but what changed my mind was the recent financial crisis. No, it wasn't that the crisis made me long for Democratic regulations and abandon the idea of the market. It was the fact that the crisis was being blamed on"the failed laissez-faire principles of the Republican Party." All of a sudden, free-market ideas and libertarianism were being attributed to President Bush and the GOP. It became clear to me that it's actually worse to talk the rhetoric of free markets and not act that way than it is to openly say you're skeptical. Classical liberalism can't afford another four years of false advertising and blame for effects it's not causing. So I'm delighted that the Democrats are in power again. Let this be a lesson to the GOP: you must stop paying lip service to, but then betraying, libertarian ideals. You must actually produce candidates who want to protect and promote liberty and reduce the scope of government. Then freedom lovers will have every reason to want your party back in charge.

Another factor makes me feel good about yesterday. Although it's been said over and over by every commentator, there was something special about yesterday's outcome. Although he tried not to position himself as"the black candidate," I think it's pretty great that enough voters got behind a black (or to be more precise, mixed-race) candidate as to elect him. I think this aspect of his presidency will have a positive effect on society. Will he be a dogmatic hard-left president? I don't think so. I suspect he'll be open to at least entertaining the notion of market-based approaches, partly because he's young, and partly because he's got some advisors on his team who do think that way, and partly because they're true, and he's smart enough to get that. Maybe I'm wrong, and he'll be hardcore anti-market. But at least he won't call socialist policies"laissez-faire capitalism."