New Hampshire’s libertarian streak finds its way into two-party politics

The NH Liberty Alliance keeps gaining momentum. First we gained friends among a small clutch of liberty-friendly State Reps that were glad to have support. Then we gained respect from mainstream politicians in both parties as our members became more and more prevalent in the State House, and we started altering the course of legislation. Then our members started getting themselves elected to the House of Representatives.

And now, average NH citizens are getting exposed to -- and excited by -- the Liberty Alliance. From community-access TV shows, to radio programs, to newspapers. Here's the latest, a great article in The Hippo, the state-wide free "Entertainment" paper. I've quoted some choice bits from the article below; here's the full version online.

From ‘Free State’ to liberty rankings
New Hampshire’s libertarian streak finds its way into two-party politics

For six years, the Alliance, which bills itself as a non-partisan coalition working to improve freedom in the Granite State, has compiled rankings of state legislators based on their pro- or anti-liberty votes. The Alliance released its rankings this month. Votes to mandate seatbelt use — anti-liberty. A vote to give more control to local governments versus state government — pro-liberty. The Alliance reviews every bill that goes through the Statehouse. “It’s a very handy tool to look at bills,” said Calvin Pratt, R-Goffstown, and also of the Free State Project, a group organizing an effort to move 20,000 “liberty-loving” people to New Hampshire. It was 2003 when the Free State Project chose to begin moving folks to the Granite State. The tally stands at 9,460 people as of last week. Pratt said the Free State Project has picked up about 20 new people per month. New Hampshire is a good place for the Free State movement because it has so many elected officials, particularly 400 state representatives — candidates supporting personal liberties simply have more opportunities to be elected and they can do so without spending huge amounts, Pratt said. “We’re not bringing anything new,” Pratt said. The Alliance defines a pro-liberty vote as a vote that protects individual freedom of choice and personal responsibility, recognizes the superiority of freedom over coercion, respects citizens’ rights of self-ownership, promotes good government and recognizes the value of voluntary economic decisions. It defines an anti-liberty vote as one that replaces self-governance with interventionist ownership, assumes agencies backed by force are superior to voluntary choices backed by personal accountability and assumes a better economy can be designed by a central authority that compels communities to pay for policies people do not willingly support, according to the rankings. “It’s respecting the Constitution and respecting the intelligence of New Hampshire residents,” Lincoln said. Free Staters agree with the Liberty Alliance that certain decisions are best left up to individuals. Free Staters worry about new taxes, more regulations and new costs. Pratt sees the Free State movement as holding its momentum and continuing to garner support in New Hampshire. Pratt is seeing a large number of “fusion candidates,” candidates that run under the label of multiple parties. It’s not a libertarian movement necessarily, but Pratt is seeing more and more candidates elected under one party who are actually advancing more or less libertarian thoughts and ideas.