The Libertarian Party is hopping mad at Ralph Nader for claiming that the Green Party is the third largest political party in the United States. Nader made the claim in an appearance on the NBC show, “Meet the Press.”
The Libertarian Party is correct that by any objective measure it is larger than the Green Party. It has more members, more election victories in 2001, more candidate for office, and more money raised. So shouldn’t it be a little ashamed that despite this “success” it is even more irrelevant than the Green Party?
In fact, although the Libertarian Party is trying to trumpet its successes, the reality shows through the cracks. The Libertarian Party notes that in 2000 it ran more candidates than the Green Party has in its entire history. Which is exactly the problem — the Libertarian Party isn’t the third largest political party because of anything special it has done, but rather it has assumed that mantle by default. In a relatively short time the Green Party has almost matched the Libertarian Party membership, and will certainly exceed it in the near future.
Of course the Libertarian Party can always hold claim to the political party that issues the most self-serving, delusional press releases — they’ve got that market cornered.
Source:
Ralph Nader is guilty of ‘false advertising’ about Green Party status, say Libertarians. Libertarian Party, Press Release, January 15, 2002.