MOVEMENT NEWS

George Phillies, longtime former Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Massachusetts and Libertarian National Committee member, not normally a fan of the Republican Party, commented favorably on the GOP. The comments came in reaction to an article published at Tucker Carlson's Daily Caller, "Libertarian Party sees resurgence as number of congressional candidates jumps by 35 percent over 2008" June 16:

Although good management and fundraising certainly play a role in party growth, today’s zeitgeist could help make a Libertarian boom out of the two-party bust.

For the 2010 election, 171 candidates for U.S. Congress are running with an “L” beside their names, up from 127 in 2008 and 114 in 2006. At all levels of public office, the party counts 716 candidates running as Libertarians this year, compared to 593 in 2008, and 596 in 2006.

No Libertarian Party candidates are on the ballot in Massachusetts. This despite the MA LP having run numerous candidates in the past, most recently the high profile and somewhat novelty candidacy of uniquely named Joe Kennedy for US Senate special election last February.

Instead, Bay State Libertarians may be shifting to the GOP for 2010. From Phillies (via IPR):

This [Libertarian boom] phenomenon is also seen elsewhere. For example, in Massachusetts the number of Republican Congressional candidates in their primaries has gone through the ceiling. In recent years, they have typically had five for the state’s ten Congressional Districts. This year, there are five Republican Congressional candidates in my Congressional District alone, and every District except Capuano’s (D, north of Boston) has at least one Republican running.