I haven’t been back in DC for a few months, but day one is already a lot of fun. While EJ Moosa was calling the GOP DOA, the Libertarian Party was acting on it. Since it’s now likely that John McCain will be the eventual Republican presidential nominee, Shane Cory and I thought it might be appropriate to send the GOP an funeral wreath. LP National Media Coordinator Andrew Davis and I hailed a cab and delivered the pictured wreath along with a condolence card from the Libertarian Party. Andrew delivered while I photographed. The card, addressed to RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, read in part: Given that it has become readily apparent that Senator McCain will soon be the presidential nominee for the Republican Party, we, the staff of the Libertarian National Committee, send our condolences to you upon the death of small-government principles within the GOP. Libertarians encourage competition within both the free-market and politics. Unfortunately, with the rise of John McCain and the big-spending practices of the Bush administration, the two-party system has emerged as representing only one philosophy – big-government liberalism. With your loss, the Libertarian Party will continue to move forwards to represent those American patriots who still believe in smaller government, lower taxes and more individual freedom. Along with the office staff, I signed the card as the Libertarian Party of Alabama chairman. Because of the local angle, my inscription read: “From Governor Riley’s tax plan to the man who brought us McCain-Feingold, small-government sentimentalities are sure dead within the GOP.” Moosa wrote: There is no room for liberty-minded people in the GOP tent. The party is in disarray, scrambling to prepare for a contest between two of the biggest socialists to run against them in decades. That fear is what drove voters to pick other candidates over Ron Paul. They like Paul BUT….it’s too close. Too close to stand on principle. Too close to take the chance. Hillary or Obama is just around the corner. With or without Ron Paul, we must take this movement, this fund- raising strength and move it to the Libertarian Party and now. We must not fade back into the woodwork. The Republican Party is dead and it simply not going to return. Trying to sell the Ron Paul message to a Republican crowd is a little like selling Toyotas at a Ford Dealership. The Toyota may have great quality, but they came to Ford to buy a Ford. Paul’s message broadcast from the Libertarian tent will stand tall. Others on the fringe of both parties will be attracted to the Libertarian movement. Only then, with a solid 15% of the electorate, will the message be taken seriously. If Paul does not want to do this, I certainly understand. He has made the great effort to change the Republican Party from within. But he cannot cures what ails the Republican Party. It is rotten to the core. And they have treated Paul and his followers with disdain and ridicule. First there was McCain-Feingold, then there was McCain-Kennedy. The only question remaining is which Democratic name will be love-linked to McCain’s in November. Will it be McCain-Obama or McCain-Clinton? http://www.lpf.org