Well, it looks like our contenders are shaping up for this presidential cycle, and the hype is already in full swing. Every election is the most-important-election-ever! As plenty of other bloggers and pundits have observed, there’s little difference between the Republicans and Democrats, much less their candidates.

Judge Andrew Napolitano opined that we don’t have two parties. We have a “Big-Government Party” with Republican and Democrat wings. One wing likes to take away our social liberties, the other our economic liberties. These days, I can’t tell which is which.

I left the Republican Party in 2007 after I found that it really didn’t represent me. I am registered Libertarian, although I pick fights with them as well. The closest I come to is a “Jacksonian Libertarian.” Although after reading some on Jackson, I’m not sure that fits either. It’ll work for now.

As of now it looks like I’ll end up voting for Gary Johnson. He’s the candidate that comes closest to my ideas, and I’m sick of the idea of voting for the lesser of two evils.

Many of the commenters talk about the need to elect a Republican president to protect the Supreme Court. After all, Heller and MacDonald were both 5-4 decisions, and we could lose that block of votes if Obama can select the next Supreme Court justice. I have two problems with this argument:

  1. I don’t trust Romney to select a judge that would be sympathetic to Heller and MacDonald. Bush I put Clarence Thomas on the Court (thank FSM), but he also put David Souter on the Court. Will anyone argue that Souter was a friend of liberty?
  2. There’s this thing called the Senate. Any justice nominee must be confirmed by the Senate. It says so right in the Constitution. I know that the feds have pretty much shredded it, but nominations are great grand-standing opportunities. I have more belief that we can affect the Senate than a president.

Do I think Johnson will win the general election? Not really, but I need to vote what my principles tell me is the best candidate. I’ve compromised before for the two-party system and have been disappointed pretty regularly, at least on the federal level. All I know is that come November, I will vote without that slimy feeling upon leaving the voting booth.