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WASHINGTON (AP) In the latest prep work for a presidential campaign, Rand Paul is conspicuously courting moderate and establishment Republicans while Ted Cruz keeps up a travel schedule that has 2016 written all over it.

Jeb Bush is stirring from something of a political snooze and a half-dozen other credible prospects are getting their voices heard in the din.

As for Democrats, a Hillary Rodham Clinton book coming out in June is about as exciting as it gets these days.

The suspense of a Democratic nomination race is in suspension until the party's dominant figure decides whether to run or someone goes for the prize without waiting for her to make up her mind. She sounds and acts a bit more like a candidate by the month, which doesn't necessarily mean she'll be one.

In both parties, potential contenders are best judged by what they do and where they go, like Iowa and New Hampshire not by what they say. Most are keeping up with the fiction that they are not really thinking about running for president even as they transparently position themselves to run for president.

Cruz has visited Iowa four times in the past eight months, and New Hampshire and South Carolina three times each, and claimed that's got nothing to do with presidential campaign politics, which no one believes. "I think it's too early to worry about 2016," the Texas senator said with a straight face.

For months, many prospective 2016 presidential candidates have been networking with party leaders, donors and activists. They've published or announced books. They're using TV appearances to become household names, at least in households tuned to the Sunday or cable news shows.

With a few notable exceptions, their preparations have accelerated since The Associated Press began broadly tracking their activities last summer. Yet even as most march through a precampaign checklist, they are keeping their options open should they decide to sit out the race.

Aside from Clinton, the former secretary of state, senator and first lady, potential Democratic contenders include Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. Among Republicans in the mix: Bush, the former Florida governor; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; Cruz; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; Kentucky Sen. Paul; Texas Gov. Rick Perry; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan; former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

A look at who's doing what:

Originally posted here:
Cruz, Clinton Campaign by Pretending Not To

Tatiana Moroz libertarian music
via YouTube Capture.

By: Bruce Majors

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Tatiana Moroz libertarian music - Video

Marxists were notorious for infighting over the most trivial differences. One group would secede from another, reverse the word order of the group it had seceded from, and declare itself the new and pure group. The first group, the new group would declare to the world, was part of the fascist conspiracy to suppress the coming workers triumph, even though the differences between the two groups were completely undetectable even to an expert.

An informal debate taking place among libertarians these days, regarding whether people ought to be thick or thin libertarians, is of a different character. It strikes at the very heart of what libertarianism is.

The thin libertarian believes in the nonaggression principle, that one may not initiate physical force against anyone else. The thin libertarian thinks of himself simply as a libertarian, without labels. Most thick libertarians likewise believe in the nonaggression principle, but they believe that for the struggle for liberty to be coherent, libertarians must be committed to a slate of other views as well.

Before I proceed, let me anticipate an objection. Shouldnt I spend my time attacking the state instead of criticizing other libertarians?

In my work over the years, I have attempted to leave no stone unturned in exposing the evils and lies of the state, and building up the libertarian alternative. As a matter of fact, I have a new book on the verge of release that continues in that tradition: Against the State: An Anarcho-Capitalist Manifesto.

Second, theres nothing wrong with what some people disparage as infighting. A respectful exchange of ideas is how a school of thought develops. And I agree with Tom Woods: it is not true, as many allege, that libertarians are uniquely prone to arguments among themselves. Just observe the Democrats, the Republicans, your homeowners association, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims or, for that matter, just about anyone.

Proponents of a thick libertarianism suggest that libertarians are bound to defend something more than the nonaggression principle, and that libertarianism involves commitments beyond just this. One such proponent recently said, I continue to have trouble believing that the libertarian philosophy is concerned only with the proper and improper uses of force. But no matter how difficult it may be for that person to believe, that is precisely what libertarianism is, and that is all it is.

As Murray Rothbard, Mr. Libertarian himself, once explained:

There are libertarians who are indeed hedonists and devotees of alternative lifestyles, and that there are also libertarians who are firm adherents of bourgeois conventional or religious morality. There are libertarian libertines and there are libertarians who cleave firmly to the disciplines of natural or religious law. There are other libertarians who have no moral theory at all apart from the imperative of non-violation of rights. That is because libertarianism per se has no general or personal moral theory.

Libertarianism does not offer a way of life; it offers liberty, so that each person is free to adopt and act upon his own values and moral principles. Libertarians agree with Lord Acton that liberty is the highest political end not necessarily the highest end on everyones personal scale of values.

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The Future of Libertarianism

Submitted by Sara Hopkins on Sun, 05/04/2014 - 8:28pm.READ MORE:

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- With the primary election just a couple of days awa, US Senate candidates for the Libertarian Party met for the third and final forum in Wilmington, but the turnout for the debate was less than stellar.

Few seats were filled at the Cape Fear Country Club for Sunday's forum, but that didn't stop candidates Tim D'annunzio and Sean Haugh from sitting down to a conversation-style debate.

D'annunzio says even though our political system gives third-party candidates a slim chance at election, their goal is to present a true alternative to the other parties. He says he is not discouraged by the turn out because the debate streamed live online.

"People these days are more interested in sitting in the comfort of their own home and being able to hear the candidates than they are interested in coming out to events like this," D'annunzio said.

Click here to watch the entire debate on the Libertarian Party's website

Disclaimer: Comments posted on this, or any story are opinions of those people posting them, and not the views or opinions of WWAY NewsChannel 3, its management or employees. You can view our comment policy here.

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Libertarian Senate candidates hold final debate in Wilmington

Stephanopoulos Predicts Possible Civil War Among Republicans ABC News 11 07 2012

By: Irum Almas

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Stephanopoulos Predicts Possible Civil War Among Republicans ABC News 11 07 2012 - Video