TX Libertarian Party Chair Compares Tea Party and Anti-War Movements

Austin Dixon concludes in an article for the Austin Statesman:

What is yet to be determined is whether the tea party will have the same impact as the war protests. My observation is that the war protests don't appear to have had any significant effect on policy.

Therefore, it is hard to predict how the tea party will influence the November elections. It will depend on whether supporters of the tea party are committed to the Libertarian origin of the movement. If so, votes will go toward those with a Libertarian (socially tolerant, fiscally conservative) platform which challenges incumbent politicians. If not, incumbent politicians will continue imposing anti-free market and socially intolerant policies on us and future generations.

If that happens, the party is over and it won't matter who lays claim to it. I, for one, won't want any part of it.