The Libertarian Party held its quadrennial national convention at the Statler Hilton in New York from August 28 through September 1. The Party nominated Roger MacBride of Charlottesville, Virginia as its presidential standard bearer, and named David Bergland of Newport Beach, California as his running mate.
As a manifestation of political realities, the convention might better have convened in the forest of Arden. In any list of probable winners in 1976, Mr. MacBride ranks 62 points behind none of the above. The Libertarians suffer from an ailment rarely encountered among the organized parties of our body politic. Their trouble is not hypocrisy, nor ambiguity, nor opportunism, nor incompetence. It cannot be said that their platform is too narrow, for indeed the platform contains planks that are calculated, in some fashion, to repel almost everyone. Their trouble is purity. It is practically unbearable.
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