Anti-Virus Pioneer John McAfee Enters Libertarian Party Presidential Race - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:
December 28, 2015 - "John McAfee is the 70-year-old founder of the antivirus software firm that bears his name (though he has not been actively involved with it since 1994, and the company was bought by Intel in 2010). He's also a colorful world adventurer who has been candid about his extreme exploits in everything from drug use (and sales) to private home antibiotic-tech experimentation. He is also seeking the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party (L.P.), he announced last week....
"While McAfee had been planning since September to launch a presidential run under the rubric of a new 'Cyber Party,' McAfee says in a phone interview this morning that he changed his mind when he realized getting meaningful ballot access from a standing start like that for a third party is effectively impossible (which is just as the major party forces who write and enforce ballot access laws intend it).
"Since McAfee thinks his ideas about government largely match that of the Libertarian Party, and since that party has since its 1972 debut on the national presidential stage managed to win ballot access in the vast majority of states, he decided he'd be better off seeking its nomination. Some Libertarian Party officials had already reached out to him to discuss the possibilities that he might have something to offer the L.P., and the L.P. something to offer him.
"McAfee says that he abruptly decided last week, without consulting with his former Cyber Party brethren, to go to USA Today with the scoop that he intends to run as a Libertarian when he knew the fresh party route was a no-go....
"When I ask if he always considered his politics libertarian, McAfee corrects me: politics is 'procedure and actions required to gain power and hold power in government, and I want to be divorced from that term.' But he says his personal beliefs 'align 100 percent with the Libertarian Party. Government is too large, welfare is an insidious drain on the soul, on society, and personal freedom is the one thing that keeps us whole as human beings ... my view of the world was libertarian before the word' was even in wide use.
"But he stresses things he thinks the government must do well that it's not doing well now, such as preparing for the 'cyberwarfare' that he knows is coming. That war 'is going to be far more devastating than anything in our imagination.' For a man who made his fortune in antivirus work, 'it's what I know best, and I know for a fact' that cyberwar looms.
"While McAfee's fortune was reported to have maxed out as high as $100 million, most of it is gone. He is not, he says, in a position to independently fund his campaign but 'I have smart people who I think will solve' any fundraising problems.... But because of his background and character, 'it's no secret I have no trouble getting press.' He says he will appear on Steve Colbert's show around January 5th, and that 'I have access to people' in media that no other L.P. hopeful does."
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/28/anti-virus-pioneer-john-mcafee-enters-li
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December 28, 2015 - "John McAfee is the 70-year-old founder of the antivirus software firm that bears his name (though he has not been actively involved with it since 1994, and the company was bought by Intel in 2010). He's also a colorful world adventurer who has been candid about his extreme exploits in everything from drug use (and sales) to private home antibiotic-tech experimentation. He is also seeking the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party (L.P.), he announced last week....
"While McAfee had been planning since September to launch a presidential run under the rubric of a new 'Cyber Party,' McAfee says in a phone interview this morning that he changed his mind when he realized getting meaningful ballot access from a standing start like that for a third party is effectively impossible (which is just as the major party forces who write and enforce ballot access laws intend it).
"Since McAfee thinks his ideas about government largely match that of the Libertarian Party, and since that party has since its 1972 debut on the national presidential stage managed to win ballot access in the vast majority of states, he decided he'd be better off seeking its nomination. Some Libertarian Party officials had already reached out to him to discuss the possibilities that he might have something to offer the L.P., and the L.P. something to offer him.
"McAfee says that he abruptly decided last week, without consulting with his former Cyber Party brethren, to go to USA Today with the scoop that he intends to run as a Libertarian when he knew the fresh party route was a no-go....
"When I ask if he always considered his politics libertarian, McAfee corrects me: politics is 'procedure and actions required to gain power and hold power in government, and I want to be divorced from that term.' But he says his personal beliefs 'align 100 percent with the Libertarian Party. Government is too large, welfare is an insidious drain on the soul, on society, and personal freedom is the one thing that keeps us whole as human beings ... my view of the world was libertarian before the word' was even in wide use.
"But he stresses things he thinks the government must do well that it's not doing well now, such as preparing for the 'cyberwarfare' that he knows is coming. That war 'is going to be far more devastating than anything in our imagination.' For a man who made his fortune in antivirus work, 'it's what I know best, and I know for a fact' that cyberwar looms.
"While McAfee's fortune was reported to have maxed out as high as $100 million, most of it is gone. He is not, he says, in a position to independently fund his campaign but 'I have smart people who I think will solve' any fundraising problems.... But because of his background and character, 'it's no secret I have no trouble getting press.' He says he will appear on Steve Colbert's show around January 5th, and that 'I have access to people' in media that no other L.P. hopeful does."
Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2015/12/28/anti-virus-pioneer-john-mcafee-enters-li
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