Small l libertarians were the core of the party before Reagan, but that part of the party died in the 1980 primary. The deficit spenders won the argument, won the election, rule the party, and the rest is history. Thirty years later, here we are. I was a young man when I joined the fight, attracted by the uncompromising principles of the platform. Since then, the party has crumpled on just about every issue I care about. Last summer, I attended an anti-immigration rally (I'm strongly in favor of unrestricted movement of goods, services and people over our borders) and there was a LP booth there signing up nativists, xenophobes and racists as fast as they could. There's still a lot the small-l movement can teach us, and the libertarian criticisms of the federal government's role are as strong as ever, but the Libertarian Party is a joke.