Libertarian Seeks Presidency Again
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Harry Browne is no fan of government. In fact, it would be fair to say he even hates it. So what is an anti-government Libertarian to do?
On Monday, Browne announced his second long-shot bid for the White House.
The 66-year-old former investment adviser from Franklin, Tenn., thinks government has failed. He has proposed a 12-step program that would eliminate income taxes, Social Security, the war on drugs, federal welfare and a lot of other things Washington does.
Browne received less than 1 percent of the vote in the 1996 election, but contends the climate is ripe for his message of a drastically scaled-back government.
His transition from investment adviser to presidential candidate was an odd one. Not only was he not politically active or connected - he had not voted since the 1960s.
But in 1992, watching Democrat Al Gore on TV, Browne found himself yelling at the tube and his wife suggested he might make a good president. The idea excited him, and two years later he sought the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.
"When I dropped out (of politics) in the 1960s, you were hard-pressed to ever find anybody who didn't think government could do anything it set out to do," Browne said in an interview. "If they said we are going to provide health care for the elderly, then most people said, 'Well, we're going to have health care for the elderly."'
Today a candidate who doesn't talk about reforming Social Security and other social programs is "doomed," he said.
Browne finished fifth in 1996, behind Reform Party candidate Ross Perot and the Green Party's Ralph Nader. This time, his campaign has about $1 million and he won't take the federal matching funds for which he now qualifies.
"I don't believe in government welfare for individuals, and I certainly don't believe in it for politicians," said Browne.
He sees the Reform Party's infighting as a boost for Libertarians. The Libertarian Party, he said, at least has a set of core principles all members believe in.
"The Reform Party is just an organization with a vague principle, a vague objective, and the result is that it lends itself to anyone who can get hold of the microphone," Browne said, referring to last weekend's contentious Reform meeting and its leadership battle.
Libertarians meet in Anaheim, Calif., in early July to nominate their candidate.
Browne is confident he will be able to rally the party, which includes about 30,000 dues-paying members. He has produced a 30-minute television show about his candidacy to debut on a small national cable network, but is not unrealistic about his prospects in November.
His goal is to win 5 percent of the vote.
"It would lay the groundwork for somebody to run for president in 2004, and maybe win the presidency," Browne said. "And it would certainly lay the groundwork to elect some Libertarian candidates to Congress in 2002."