National Democrats as a Proto-Libertarian Movement

The 1896 National Democratic Ticket was an interesting one. It was formed by Bourbon Democrats unhappy with the Progressive swing of the Democratic Party, but faded by 1900.

The 1896 ticket garnered the support of a number of figures like NAACP President Moorfield Storey, Grover Cleveland, Louis Brandeis, and Woodrow Wilson.

Could the National Democrats have become a proto-Libertarian movement?



I include this in the post-1900 section because even though the party was formed in 1896, the bulk of its existence and impact would be post-1900.
 
It would be hard. The GOP already had the free markets base covered. And nobody was going to put liberalized sexual mores into their platform. Libertarianism also means no Jim Crow laws, so the Democrats are throwing away a monopoly on a quarter of the country.
 
It would be hard. The GOP already had the free markets base covered. And nobody was going to put liberalized sexual mores into their platform. Libertarianism also means no Jim Crow laws, so the Democrats are throwing away a monopoly on a quarter of the country.

This is the 1896 National Democratic Party (a splinter third-party) not the Democratic Party. The Nat-Dems were fairly liberal in terms of race relations.
 
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