Opinions

Libertarian Party should take center stage in US politics: Party meets needs of much larger population than just those who identify as Libertarians

The United States has outgrown the basic Republican-Democrat model. According to Pew research, the Republican favorability is at a low 37 percent, and the Democrats are not that much higher at 46 percent.

If neither party can get up to 50 percent, than why are these two parties so dominant?

Statistics from the Pew Research Center show that the American people probably would prefer a libertarian solution.

First, let’s clarify the main issues people believe in and then match them with libertarian ideas. The main issues will be abortion, gay rights, gun control and economic policy.

The first issue is abortion. The population, according to Pew Research, shows that 54 percent of the U.S. population supports the right of women to be able to get an abortion.

The Libertarians have the view that abortion should be completely out of state control.

As some Democrats support this message, the whole basis of the Democratic Party is to have a stronger government, which will hinder this issue later on.

As for the Republican Party, they go against their main focus, and the majority says that the state should have a say and ban abortions. The Libertarian Party is the only party with a consistent stance for government to stay out.

The second issue is gay rights. This is a similar argument to the abortion. The national consensus is the same at 54 percent of Americans support gay marriage.

However, out of the millennial generation, 69 percent support the right of marriage equality. This percentage is growing every year.

As Obama vocalized his support of gay marriage, it was not until after Biden came out and supported it and showed Obama that it would not hurt his political capital.

If you remember, the only candidate who openly stated and argued that the state should have no say in who you marry during the past election was the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.

The next issue is gun control. The libertarian belief is that the government should support the constitutional right to bear arms.

Only 48 percent say that the government should have complete gun control. The Libertarian population once again resides with the popular demand.

Finally, the last issue is that of economic policy. The research shows that 52 percent of Americans believe that taxation is too high, and 59 percent believe that congress should alter the tax system, which is an independent libertarian belief.

The population shows their support for a party that has a more conservative economic policy, and a more liberal social policy. The only party that provides this is the Libertarian Party.

As Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot, it will be increasingly likely that the Libertarian Party will take over. They have lost two elections, and probably will lose a third.

Their public support is dropping every year. Meanwhile, according to Gallup, Obama’s approval rating is only 42 percent. This shows there is disappointment with both parties.

Now is the time to spread libertarian ideals. It will not be this election or even the next two elections, but if the movement starts now, there is a high likelihood that by at least 2028 libertarians can be close to be one of the main parties.