Is There Hope for Libertarianism Within a Post-Election GOP?

So voters repudiate President Donald Trump yet refuse to embrace the Democratic Party, while also passing some freedom-friendly ballot initiatives. Meanwhile, the noisy center of American politics these past five years characteristically refuses to concede, and concocts increasingly implausible conspiracy theories attempting to explain away his loss. Where does that leave the modern GOP, and whatever vaguely libertarian muscle memory it may have buried somewhere?

That discussion takes up the second half of this week’s Reason Roundtable. The front end is devoted to exploring the difference between Trump’s and Joe Biden’s COVID-19 policies, the wonderful news of another vaccine, and the less salutary news of widespread infection and hospitalization increases all around the country. The phrase “Gadsden Flag mankini” is invoked.

Speaking of which: Got questions for Roundtable podcasters Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, Matt Welch, and Katherine Mangu-Ward? Please email them to [email protected] before December 1, and we will try to get to each and every one of them during our annual Webathon, which begins at the end of this month. You’ll be glad you did!

Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.

Music: “Day Bird” by Broke for Free

Relevant links from the show:

“Moderna’s Preliminary Results Indicate That Its COVID-19 Vaccine Is 94.5% Effective,” by Ronald Bailey

“Masks Are a Tool, Not a Panacea,” by Ronald Bailey

“Trump Touts Operation Warp Speed’s COVID-19 Successes,” by Ronald Bailey

“Biden Has a Plan for a New National ‘Supply Commander,’” by Max Gulker

“New York, Shamefully, on the Verge of Shuttering Public Schools,” by Matt Welch

“Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Death Forecast Looks Less Plausible Every Day,” by Jacob Sullum

“Here Come the New Lockdowns,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

“Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New COVID-19 Restrictions on Private Home Gatherings Violate Personal Liberty,” by Robby Soave

“Will Biden Use the Broad Pandemic-Fighting Powers Originally Claimed by Trump?” by Christian Britschgi

“Don’t Buy the Debunked Dominion Voting Machine Conspiracy Theory,” by Eric Boehm

“The Supreme Court Won’t Save Trump,” by Damon Root

“‘I Won the Election,’ Tweets Trump as Legal Losses Stack Up,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

“No, Trump Did Not Concede the Election (Even Briefly),” by Jacob Sullum

“California Voters Rebuked Their Governor, Legislators at the Ballot Box,” by Steven Greenhut

“Trump Lost in Part Because 2016 Third-Party Voters Heavily Preferred Biden,” by Matt Welch

“Mike Pompeo Jokes, Hopefully, About ‘a Smooth Transition To a Second Trump Administration,’” by Christian Britschgi

“Would a Less-Nativist Republican Have Won in 2020?” by Shikha Dalmia

“Before Drug Prohibition, There Was the War on Calico,” by Virginia Postrel