Two of the Libertarians are women. One man has long hair and a beard. The other looks conservative. All are classical liberals who understand the proper and limited role of government. They love people, life and liberty more than the bureaucracy they control.

Boulder was once a tolerant, liberal, diverse and progressive town. It's none of that, today. Instead, Leadville is. Today, Boulder represents everything classical liberals oppose, because it's elitist, exclusive, bigoted, tyrannical and oppressive. Anyone who doesn't believe this needs only examine the manner in which the Boulder County Commission-comprised 100 percent of liberal Democrats-plans the greater community and treats local citizens.

Because of the Libertarian revolution in Leadville, the Colorado Libertarian Party chose it as the site of their 2002 convention, renting out the swank Columbine Hotel and every other motel/hotel in town. Among a long list of speakers was yours truly, from the People's Republic of Boulder. Dozens of other Boulder residents attended, young and old, representing a rainbow of ethnic diversity.

It was an honor, speaking to this convention, because the Libertarian Party's time has almost arrived. This fall, look for Libertarians-at the very least-to shake the foundations of the two-party system and throw the expected outcomes of elections out of whack. And don't be surprised if a few Libertarians land some lofty offices throughout the United States.

The success of the party will come at the expense of Democrats and Republicans, and Libertarians will have more and more success in coming years drawing voters away from both camps. Liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans have become equally guilty of growing government in order to enforce-by blunt force of law-their own agendas. The conservative Bush administration has sold out a host of our civil liberties in order to create a perception of post Sept. 11 safety; liberal Democrats and "progressives" have been cashing in our constitutional freedoms and extorting our money for decades in order to impose their values on society.

Greens aren't much different. They, like Republicans and Democrats, want more government. They just color it with an alternative brush, proposing a "Department of Peace," for example, to enlarge the country's war bureaucracies.

Libertarians, however, take the only true stand in defense of diversity, tolerance, youth, peace and optimized liberty. Although so-called "pro-family" politics are often associated with the religious right, it's the Libertarian platform that stands to strengthen the American family-and it does so without clubbing the public over the head with religion. Many Libertarians respect religion, and understand that it thrives in a culture of liberty. They do not, however, wish to serve it up as a government product or mandate.

So what's pro-family about the Libertarian platform? How about the fact that this party helped eliminate the Alaska state income tax, and pledges to eliminate the federal income tax. Libertarians understand that taxes, which today take one half of a middle class family's income, are destroying families. Libertarians think it's somehow wrong that people who provide for American families work from January to June, just to pay taxes. They remember the 1950s, when the federal government took only 2 percent of a family's income.

Once upon a time, Libertarian philosophy appealed only to anarchists and a minority of disgruntled Goldwater-era conservative Republicans. Not today. The ultra-left wire service AlterNet this week carries a story about the Cato Institute-an ultra-Libertarian think tank. The story warns-mostly through the mouth of an ex-Nader supporter-turned Cato employee-just how appealing the Libertarian philosophy can be to liberals and progressives. It's appealing, the story says, because of:

  a.. The compassionate, pro-immigrant view of Cato in contrast to the anti-immigration hysteria of liberals and conservatives alike following Sept. 11.
  b.. How Cato, and most Libertarians, think the war on terrorism has lost focus and no longer pertains to America's vital interests.
  c.. The fact that Cato and typical Libertarians oppose post Sept. 11 corporate subsidies.
  d.. The opposition of Cato and most Libertarians to military tribunals: "The Bill of Rights is more than scrap paper. And it applies to all persons, not just U.S. citizens."-Robert Levy, Cato's senior constitutional studies fellow. Most Libertarians also oppose all aspects of the drug war and favor legalization. That's why, says the lefty AlterNet story, hundreds of dyed-in-wool lefties gathered to hear Cato's executive vice president David Boaz speak last month at the annual convention of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Americans, and not just druggies and lefties, are sick and tired of paying for the drug war. It's a modern Vietnam, and Libertarians have the answer: End it.

At their Colorado convention, Libertarians nominated a Boulder man-Ralph Shnelvar-as their candidate for governor. They nominated Flux Neo-a bright, young Hispanic Boulder man-as candidate for the University of Colorado Board of Regents. They nominated Denver businessman Rick Stanley as their candidate for Senate. In all, the convention nominated 51 candidates for the 2002 ballot. Learn about them. If you're a true liberal who loves liberty, you'll find them appealing.