On Friday libertarian star Ron Paul announced officially that he would throw his hat in the ring to compete to be the Republican candidate for the Presidential election in 2012. Also in the running of interest to commentators here is Gary Johnson, the libertarian former governor of New Mexico. Also business man Herman Cain. I don’t think anybody else important is running but let me know if you think I have got this wrong.
Here is a little bit from the recent debate.
Australian Libertarian Society (old site) 
Does depend on what you mean by ‘important’. : )
The interesting thing I find looking at their process and election is just how different it is to ours. Whereas our political system is testing, theirs is vicious. Also, the process is far more exposed – far more of the internal distinctions within parties can be seen than it is here. Finally, the issue of fundraising is much more public and highlighted over there.
The only one of those aspects I’d like to see introduced here is a little more exposure of the diversity of views held across the major political parties. I think it would actually help people feel more represented to have that diversity expressed.
I like Paul and Johnson (obviously) but I dont think they are very well spoken.
I haven’t listened to Johnson at this stage; I’d disagree that Paul isn’t well spoken. He speaks well, given the time to explain his points. Part of the difficulty he faces are that his position is vastly different to the recognised / understood positions of the major parties. As such, short bites sound odd to most people because they don’t fit into their existing understanding.
The danger the establishment faces is that over time more and more people have enough context to place sound bites into. As that happens, his comments sound less strange and the principles behind them come through.
I love watching Ron Paul in these debates. It was quite as controversial as 4 years ago. Ron Paul comments on 9/11 almost gave mayor giuliani a heart attack! Quality TV!
Love the grading