Libertarians opt for most credible slate available

Libertarian Party offers the GOP an unexpected lesson | MSNBC - Steve Benen, Maddow Blog:

May 31, 2016 - "It wasn’t easy, and it took a little longer than party officials might have liked, but the Libertarian Party held its national convention in Orlando over the weekend and it put together a national ticket designed to succeed....

"I can appreciate why the Libertarian Party comes across as an eccentric group of political misfits. At one point during the party’s convention, delegates were asked to elect a national party chair, and one of the stated contenders stripped off his clothes and danced in a thong for the cameras. At another point, Johnson, before eventually prevailing, was widely booed for saying he’s comfortable with state-issued drivers’ licenses....

"But that’s all the more reason to take the results seriously. The Libertarian Party ended up with a ticket featuring a pair of two-term governors. The party considered other assorted figures, none of whom had the kind of background Johnson and Weld brought to the table, but in the end, Libertarians showed a pragmatic streak, choosing the most experienced and credible candidates available. That may have meant compromising a bit, but the Libertarian Party made a conscious decision to nominate a ticket that can appeal to as broad a national electorate as possible.

"And then there’s the Republican Party, which is nominating a reality-show personality who’s never served a day in elected office and doesn’t appear to know anything at all about government, politics, or public policy.

"Remind me: who are the real misfits in this picture?...

"Libertarians face some daunting challenges. The Johnson/Weld ticket will need to qualify for the ballot in all 50 states – a hurdle they’re likely to clear – while trying to raise money and assemble a credible national operation. It will also start lobbying news organizations to start including Libertarians in national polls, even though the vast majority of American voters have no idea who Gary Johnson and William Weld are.

"That said, if Libertarians can start overcoming these challenges, and there’s a meaningful public appetite for a third-party campaign featuring two former Republican governors, the Johnson/Weld pairing may not be a laughing matter in the fall."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/libertarian-party-offers-the-gop-unexpected-lesson
'via Blog this'

Johnson & Weld win on 2nd ballot in Orlando

2016 Finally Has a Contested Convention, Thanks to the Libertarians - NBC News - Jane C. Timm:

"May 29, 2016 - The Libertarian Party nominated former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld as its presidential ticket Sunday, as the party attempts to elevate itself into the mainstream during an election that's given the small party unprecedented opportunity.

"The pair - both two-term governors - have more executive experience than any other candidate in the race, and they will offer an alternative to two historically unpopular candidates, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

"'This is the best message team going forward,' Johnson, the Libertarians' presidential nominee, told reporters after Weld won the vice presidential nomination....

"Johnson won on the second ballot after falling short of a majority by just a few votes - getting 49.5 percent - on the first.... The tense hour between ballots left candidates scheming and delegates making floor deals and chanting for and against candidates. It was the kind of drama political reporters had previously only dreamed about....

"While Johnson locked down enough votes on the second ballot, the drama was far from finished Sunday. Libertarians also allow their party to choose the vice presidential nominee, and Johnson's chosen running mate - Weld - is not a party favorite, as many question whether he's really a Libertarian....

"In speeches ahead of the ballot, the runner-up presidential candidate, publisher Austin Petersen, spoke out against Weld; another vice presidential candidate, lawyer Alicia Dearn, spoke in support of party unity, asking Weld to join her on stage to pledge not to 'betray the party.' Weld fell a couple of dozen votes short on the first ballot, but he won on the second - by just a few votes - and the crowd erupted in boos and cheers."

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/2016-finally-has-contested-convention-thanks-libertarians-n582471
'via Blog this'

Cult, mainstream visions of libertarianism collide at Presidential debate

Libertarian Party Presidential Debate: Gary Johnson is From a Different World - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

May 29, 2016 - "The final presidential debate at the Libertarian Party National Convention happened last night (aired live on C-SPAN), featuring what most media treated as the "likely three"—former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, antivirus software innovator John McAfee, and libertarian movement mover and shaker Austin Petersen—plus anarchist firebrand Darryl Perry and surprisingly amusing wildcard Marc Feldman, selected via token ballots cast by Libertarian delegates.

"The debate lasted a punishing two hours. I was unable tonight to learn who wrote the questions, which were delivered by radio host and libertarian fellow traveler Larry Elder....

"Whoever wrote the questions did the Party, in my judgment, a great disservice. A C-SPAN audience did not need to see the five candidate pondering out loud whether drivers licences are legitimate. (Among other challenging questions that could serve no other purpose but to embarrass the Party and its candidates in the eyes of any random cable viewer were such pressing, burning 2016 presidential campaign questions ... as: would you have fought World War I? II? Apologized for bombing Hiroshima? Voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act? Do you think drivers need to be licensed? Should it be a crime to sell heroin to 5-year-olds? I'm enough of a movement veteran that these things just flowed by me at the time, but in retrospect they seem the worst sort of hectoring irrelevances designed to make the Party's candidates seem like eccentric loons.)

"A lot was said in two hours. Feldman, [whom] I'd previously ignored in my convention coverage, delivered a standard middle-ground Libertarian activist set of opinions, but expressed in often funny jokes, ending in his closing statements in a barn-burning rap in which he referenced every type of Libertarian activist and all his presidential opponents.

"Darryl Perry delivered straight-up passionate anarchism, with the state always the wrong answer to every problem. In talking to a couple of handfuls of delegates after the debate, it seems likely Perry will probably do better on the first presidential ballot than many might have guessed. He seemed a favorite freak-flag-fly choice for delegates who don't expect him to survive that many ballots or be the nominee. Feldman's good humor and solid Libertarianism will earn him a fair number of first ballot votes as well.

"Even among people who don't love Gary Johnson, I found few people who swore they'd never vote for him.... But the most interesting story coming out of the debate is the degree to which Gary Johnson was simultaneously the most strongly disliked, or disapproved of, candidate while still seeming the favorite of more than any other single candidate. No one got more, and more sustained, boos than Johnson did, for various departures from movement orthodoxy....

"Johnson's description of the core of libertarianism as 'fiscally conservative, socially liberal' seems to weary the serious convention crowd. That a core part of his quick discussion of immigration involves the idea that an immigrant should 'pay taxes' doesn't seem to thrill everyone either. Johnson said he first was satisfied with a 'get government out of marriage' solution to gay or plural marriage debates, but decided that the concept of marriage was so tied in to so many laws that it was better to just take a 'government shouldn't discriminate' solution. He boldly and simply stated that he would have voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which drew boos, as did his heretical opinion that drivers licenses might be a legitimate state function.

"Johnson garnered lots of boos by claiming that the free market is killing coal ... a large part of the crowd seemed ... annoyed at the idea that anything other than regulations were keeping coal down. Saying he imagined replacing the income and corporate taxes he hopes to eliminate with a FairTax style consumption tax annoyed a crowd more primed to just hear that 'taxation is theft' — though Johnson has learned enough about dealing with Libertarian crowds to use that phrase too.

"His favored technique was linking any question to some actual experience as governor of New Mexico, to remind delegates that this executive thing was natural to him. It isn't always clear most Libertarian delegates want to hear about real world experience as opposed to a passionate or smart expression of core libertarian philosophy. He did win cheers for openly calling for legalizing all drugs, but boos for admitting that some provision would need to remain in the law against supplying drugs to children.

"In his closing statements, Johnson dealt quietly with the question of whether he was libertarian enough for the Libertarians. He admitted openly that he likely was not the most libertarian candidate they could pick, but that he believed he was the one this year who could get them the most attention and votes."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/05/29/libertarian-party-presidential-debate-ga
'via Blog this'

Johnson & Weld get rough reception in Orlando

Libertarian ‘dream ticket’ in peril as Weld bombs in Orlando - POLITICO - Shane Goldmacher:

May 27, 2016 - "It was supposed to be a stroke of genius: Gary Johnson, the 2012 Libertarian nominee for president and the party’s leading contender in 2016, announced that William Weld, the two-term former Republican governor of Massachusetts, would serve as his running mate.... The pair would comprise a powerful two-governor ticket just as the leading Democratic and Republican contenders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, rate as historically unpopular. The hope was they could emerge as a true third-party alternative.

"But here in the corridors of the Rosen Centre Hotel and Resort at the Libertarian National Convention in Orlando, it could all fall apart as anti-authoritarian Libertarian Party activists, loath to be defined as 'Republican-lite,' are increasingly and loudly critical of Weld, who joined their party only weeks ago.

"Johnson seems to sense his dream ticket could be in trouble. The former two-term governor of New Mexico was booed at a convention forum on Thursday for calling Weld 'the original libertarian'....

"Asked if his reception was worrisome, Weld told POLITICO, 'I wouldn’t use the word worrisome, but I would say the convention is highly unpredictable. And having two former Republican governors who were successful in blue states — who knows — that could turn out to be a negative in the minds of delegates. Stranger things have happened'....

"And Weld did little to help himself at a Friday night vice-presidential debate in which he got a chilly reception from the hardcore audience of Libertarian true-believers. Asked who did more damage to America — President Obama or President George W. Bush — Weld gave a classic politician answer. 'I’d rate it a tie,' he said. He used the word 'miasma' in his closing statement.

"At one point, Weld said he would stay in the United Nations — an idea anathema to many in the crowd — and said that when people think of Libertarians they often think of 'unattractive people' in their neighborhoods....  Weld advocated cutting taxes. One of his opponents yelled, 'Taxation is theft!'...

"Sparks flew at a Thursday forum in which one of Johnson’s top challengers, Austin Petersen, who recently scored the endorsement of longtime Republican operative Mary Matalin, challenged Johnson on his Weld pick....

"At Friday’s debate, one of Weld’s rivals for the vice presidential slot, Larry Sharpe, used his closing statement to appeal to the crowd’s anti-government instincts. 'Do you have to have government experience to be in government?' Sharpe asked. 'NO!' cheered the crowd. 'Do you believe that one Republican governor is not enough?' Sharpe went on. 'One is enough and something else would help'.... Weld never got a chance at a rebuttal."

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/gary-johnson-william-weld-libertarian-ticket-convention-223682
'via Blog this'

Libertarian convention opens to record interest

What to Watch at the Libertarian Convention - ABC News - Ryan Struyk & Inez de la Cuetara:

May 27, 2016 - "Over Memorial Day weekend, the Libertarian Party will be holding its convention in Orlando to put forth its presidential and vice presidential candidates. The party has largely been ignored in previous cycles, but ... Libertarians are trying to appeal to voters disenchanted with the prospect of a Trump or Hillary Clinton presidency.

"'We are seeing record interest in the party,' the national Libertarian Party’s political director, Carla Howell, recently told Politico Magazine. 'Membership has spiked; it has gone up about 30 percent in the last few months. We’re also seeing record media interest'....

"The Libertarian Party tends to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal. It vehemently opposes any government intervention in citizens’ private and business decisions.... 'Essentially, we believe all Americans should be free to live their lives and pursue their interests as they see fit as long as they do no harm to another. In a nutshell, we are advocates for a smaller government, lower taxes and more freedom,' the party says on its website.

"In 2012, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson earned almost 1.3 million votes – the most votes a Libertarian nominee has ever garnered. Still, it only amounted for 0.99 percent of the total popular vote, and the party was far from winning any electoral votes. ....

"Some Libertarians hope that this could be a breakthrough year for the party....  A Fox News poll in mid-May shows Johnson garnering 10 percent support in a race against Trump and Clinton. A Monmouth poll in March showed Johnson hitting 11 percent support....  "The party has also been working hard to ensure its candidate is listed on every state’s ballot — so far, the party has made it to 32 states and is confident it can reach its goal.....

"There are a total of 12 candidates running to win the Libertarian Party’s nomination. Former two-term New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is currently expected to clinch the nomination.... Other viable candidates include millionaire software entrepreneur John McAfee, who fled Belize after he was cited as a 'person of interest' in the murder of his neighbor, and Austin Peterson, former Fox Business producer and Libertarian activist.

"Johnson recently announced he would want former Republican Massachusetts Gov. William Weld as his vice president. Weld might help make a Libertarian ticket more attractive to Democrats — in 1997, Bill Clinton nominated him as ambassador to Mexico (the nomination was eventually blocked). He also wound up supporting President Obama in 2008."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/watch-libertarian-convention/story?id=39423394
'via Blog this'

Petersen nets more #NeverTrump endorsements

Austin Petersen Catches More Endorsements from the Media Right for His Presidential Campaign - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

May 25, 2016 - "Austin Petersen, former Fox Business Network producer with Judge Andrew Napolitano's Freedom Watch and founder of the Libertarian Republic website, has long been positioning himself as the Libertarians' best choice to capture wayward Republicans who still love freedom and still hate Trump.... That stance got Petersen two public endorsements from the world of formerly Republican political consultants and media figures this week.

"Mary Matalin, longtime GOP consultant and famously part of America's Favorite Cross-Partisan Marriage with Democratic grumpus James Carville, officially left the Republican Party for the Libertarians and now is behind Petersen for the L.P.'s presidential nomination, which will be decided this weekend at the Party's National Convention in Orlando....

"Petersen tells me that while he did not communicate directly with Matalin, his communications director told him 'she agrees with your ideas, likes that you articulate them well to an uninformed populace, and finds your career in spreading these ideas compelling.'

"Erick Erickson, former chieftain at conservative site Red State and now a right-wing radio guy in Atlanta, who has long been loudly anti-Trump, says that Gary Johnson's pick of William Weld as his running mate shows he is 'tone deaf' (Weld has been seen as insufficiently libertarian or even conservative by many) and disqualifies him from serious consideration. He today writes about Petersen:

Petersen has his flaws. He has some views outside the mainstream, but then what Libertarian doesn’t?... Petersen would be a fresh start and a lot of Republicans would potentially take a fresh look at Petersen. Couple him with a very strong, credible vice presidential candidate and the Libertarians might finally be the third party America needs for disruptive competition.

"And while Glenn Beck's people insist it was technically no endorsement, as I reported last week Beck did say to Petersen during a 16-minute segment on Beck's radio show that Petersen is 'making my heart skip' and 'giving me hope there is someone I can pull the lever for' and is 'saying all the right things.'"

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2016/05/25/austin-petersen-catches-more-endorsement
'via Blog this'

Johnson polls best for a 3rd party in 20 years

Blog: Libertarian Johnson polling better than any 3rd-party candidate since Perot - Rick Moran, American Thinker::

May 25, 2016 - "The 2012 Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, is showing surprising strength in early polls against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

"Johnson received less than 1% of the vote in 2012, but he got 1.2 million votes – a Libertarian party record. He is vying for the nomination against two lesser known candidates – radio talker and activist Austin Peterson and former fugitive John McAfee.

"But with the strong negative feelings by voters against both Trump and Clinton, Johnson, if he gets the nomination, has an opportunity to upend the race.  He is currently polling at 10%, which is the best showing by a third-party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996...

"How have third-party candidates polled recently? Johnson ran as the Libertarian candidate in 2012, and won about 1 percent of the national vote, becoming the most successful Libertarian candidate ever; in polls done in May and June of 2012, he was polling at 2 percent. Bob Barr, the Libertarian nominee in 2008, also polled at 2 percent in the late spring of that year.

"Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, may not be the most dynamic candidate in the race, but he has experience running a national campaign and may have access to some big donors. His pick for vice president, former Massachusetts governor William Weld, was the attorney for casino mogul Steve Wynn, who is likely to back the Libertarian candidate this election cycle. Considering that Johnson raised only $2 million in 2012, a big infusion of cash into his campaign would certainly make him more visible and potentially competitive in some states.

"The question of whom he would draw more votes from, Republicans or Democrats, is unanswerable at this point. Conventional wisdom says he would take far more Republican votes away from Trump. But this election is different. It is shaping up to be a non-ideological election, so Johnson has the potential to take a rougly equal number of voters from both sides.

"What usually happens with third-party candidates is that they poll well in the spring and the summer and then fade away to nothing in the fall. But nothing about this race is 'usual,' which is why the Libertarian Party convention next [weekend] bears watching."

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/05/libertarian_johnson_polling_better_than_any_3rd_party_candidate_since_perot.html
'via Blog this'