Weak showing on drug war from Dems

If libertarians were looking for a glimmer of hope from the Democratic field for US Senate they didn't find it last night at the UMass Lowell debate.

In one of the more entertaining parts of the debate the candidates were asked about their experiences with marijuana and whether they support legalization. Front runner Elizabeth Warren was a firm and frigid no on the question, departing from her mostly disarming demeanor. Her strongest challenger, Alan Khazei, was more jovial saying that he did inhale, he enjoyed it and was open to medical marijuana. The rest of the field was in the no legalization/maybe medical use camp except for long shot candidate Herb Robinson. Robinson was the only candidate on stage who supported legalization. It is worth noting that the leader of their party, President Obama, doesn't take the legalization issue very seriously though he is somewhat receptive to medical marijuana.

Will this election be determined by positions on the drug war? Hell no, this election is all about the economy, jobs, and what you think about Wall Street. The war on drugs does matter when you consider that the winner of this race will be determined by independents. Small "l" libertarians fall into that category and they have plenty of reasons to be unhappy with Scott Brown, the drug war being one of them. Even though libertarians make up a small percentage of the voting population in Massachusetts they could play a major factor.