The Congressional race in New York’s 23^rd district has received a great deal of national attention. The results of this race really put a damper on an otherwise fun night for the GOP on the national level.

Here’s the set up. A Democrat won a race in the 23^rd Congressional district in New York for the first time in over 100 years. It happened thanks to a coup by the conservative wing of the local GOP, which derailed the campaign of the moderate Republican in the race, and installed its own social conservative candidate.

Even though the vanquished moderate Republican bowed out of the race, she still took home 6% of the vote. Do you know how many percentage points the Democrat won by? 

That’s right, 5%. If you do the math, Republicans could have likely kept the seat that they have held since the Civil War with a moderate. But, Conservatives felt it was better to lose on principle than to win with compromise. 

This situation reminds me of a major national political convention held here in Denver in 2008. No, not the DNC, the LNC.

The Libertarian National Convention was held in Denver a few weeks before the Democrats showed up.  Admittedly, their party was a bit smaller than the DNC, seeing that the Dems used the Pepsi Center and the Libertarians used the ballroom at the Sheraton Hotel. 

But while the Libertarians engaged in very real debate about who their Presidential nominee would be, there was very little debate about their platform. On that, there would simply be no compromise, even if it meant attracting many more voters. 

The folks at the LNC stuck to their principles, even if it meant losing their shot at real power. They would rather have stayed true to the party line than compromise one little bit in order to get votes from any particular group.

That’s a very honorable and admirable position to take and many Libertarians can sleep well at night knowing that they have not compromised any of their principles for power. But, when they wake up, they awake to a world ran by other people.

That’s what they have in common with the Conservatives in New York’s 23^rd District. They are loyal to their principles, refuse to compromise and will watch someone else run things for the foreseeable future.

What the Libertarians at the LNC and the Conservatives in upstate New York have missed is that real people live with compromise everyday. Compromise is not a sign of weak principles, but more often than not, it’s how people from different perspectives can get things accomplished for the greater good. 

People on the passionate wings of both parties like to assume that their heroes never compromised. If their heroes were ever able to get anything accomplished, they compromised somewhere down the line.

For most voters it comes down to a very simple question. Would you like to have someone who agrees with you 50% of the time get some things done, or someone who agrees with you 100% of the time get nothing done?  Voters in upstate New York have spoken. The real question is, was anybody listening?