Gary Johnson Announces Libertarian Party Run For President

[jbauer]

Were there no libertarians available?

I was looking yesterday and there is a chick that is a spiritual healer and some dude wearing union blues...must be a civil war reenacter

So no there isn't. GJ is a breath of fresh air

 

[Nathan Hale]

He's not my ideal candidate either, which is why I said I'd abstain from voting in the presidential election if Rand doesn't get the nomination.

@Rad...I think that's a bit of a stretch to say Trump could get the LP nomination. I know it's been bad lately (Bob Barr, yuck!) but I don't think they'd cross that line.

Gary isn't my "ideal" candidate either, but then again neither is Rand Paul. I consider both, however, far above the line of what is acceptable in a liberty candidate.

 

[Nathan Hale]

double post

 

[Nathan Hale]

I agree with you. He's a real bas "tard" who turned his back on Ron Paul. I'll never give him an ounce of consideration again.

He didn't turn his back on Ron Paul. People just hated Gary because he ran simultaneously to Paul, totally ignoring the longstanding relationship between the two men and the fact that he admitted during the whole process that he would demure to Paul if he got the nomination.

 

[Nathan Hale]

They wouldn't have a choice. They nominate by convention. A total of 595 delegates voted at the LNC in 2012, 419 of them voted for Johnson. Anyone who walks in with with somewhere between 300-600 delegates would win. Trump could do that, but he won't.

Yeah, with Gary in the race it's pretty much assured that he'll win the nod with McAfee as a running mate. If the major party selections are Hillary and Trump, and if Gary plays his cards right, this might get interesting.

 

[nikcers]

I just feel like it's a cash grab. I was very suspicious about Rand originally but Rand was polling and putting organization out there and setting himself up and even said he wouldn't run if he didn't think he had a chance at actually winning. I wouldn't support any non mainstream candidate unless they seemed like they were going to put everything into it. This just seems like an afterthought, he wants to win my vote and he just now decides to run? He should of been building up his social media or something at least, this is a joke.

 

[Brett85]

Gary Johnson represents the Reason Magazine/low tax liberal version of libertarianism.

 

[nikcers]

 

[kahless]

Yeah, with Gary in the race it's pretty much assured that he'll win the nod with McAfee as a running mate. If the major party selections are Hillary and Trump, and if Gary plays his cards right, this might get interesting.

With those two clowns it pretty much rules out any chance of me voting LP if Rand does not make it or if I am not happy with the Constitution party candidate.

 

[thatpeculiarcat]

Gary was better than Goode. Baldwin was better than Barr.

Let's see what happens in the Constitution Party, let's see what McAfee and that little prick Peterson have to say. But for now, our focus should be on Rand.

 

[69360]

Meh, I liked Gary until he showed his true colors.

Just another self-absorbed, power-hungry, liar.

Next

Yes, because the Liberterian party wields so much power in this country. Maybe this time they will get all the way to 2%.

That said if it's it Trump and Clinton, I will vote LP.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

Yes, because the Liberterian party wields so much power in this country. Maybe this time they will get all the way to 2%.

That said if it's it Trump and Clinton, I will vote LP.

Rand has been at 4% in the GOP polls for months, which some would take to mean he would be at 2% in a general poll, or that liberty candidates are nationally at 2% be they inside or outside the major party system. Either way, we have work to do.

 

[TheTexan]

They wouldn't have a choice. They nominate by convention. A total of 595 delegates voted at the LNC in 2012, 419 of them voted for Johnson. Anyone who walks in with with somewhere between 300-600 delegates would win. Trump could do that, but he won't.

Trump wouldnt ever run in Libertarian party, it's a loser party that doesnt win any election ever

 

[CaptUSA]

The LP is a disaster party. I was a sad witness to this for over 20 years. The problem is that no one can quite agree on what a big "L" Libertarian should be. So much so that, ironically, that is their only unifying element. Each faction of the party quibbles about the .01% in which they find disagreement with the other factions that they can never agree. Hell, there are even major disagreements within those factions. It's a quadrennial circular firing squad.

 

[65fastback2+2]

Cant support Gary ever. He's for baby murdering. That is a hard line in the dirt for my vote.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

The liberty movement is structurally marginalized in the US, be it inside the major parties, or in third parties. The elite special interests have engineered that outcome to cover their bases in either direction. Result: liberty people fail electorally at winning in the minor parties, and liberty people fail legislatively at reversing a single aspect of the welfare-warfare state in the major parties. The failure is externally manufactured, not created by internal problems.

They've done the same thing to marginalize the other alternatives as well. Or do you think every other third party also being stuck at 1-2% is just an accident, and that everybody in all those groups (across the nation, and across decades) are all equally incompetent? Our chances would improve if we stopped sniping at each other, and built a stronger grassroots movement, that was independent of major or minor parties.

 

[Nathan Hale]

Gary Johnson represents the Reason Magazine/low tax liberal version of libertarianism.

Gary Johnson is way more moderate than the Ayn-Randroid tip-of-the-diamond ZAP extremists who for most of the lifespan of libertarian have been the ones to plant their flag on the term, but that doesn't make the term any more theirs. The simple math of the matter is that most people who would fall into the libertarian quadrant of the Nolan Chart are moderates, but the dialogue coming from the LP and "traditional" libertarians is that you must be a single-axiom extremist in order to be worthy of the term. I reject that.

 

[Nathan Hale]

With those two clowns it pretty much rules out any chance of me voting LP if Rand does not make it or if I am not happy with the Constitution party candidate.

It's unfortunate that you feel that way.

 

[Nathan Hale]

The LP is a disaster party. I was a sad witness to this for over 20 years. The problem is that no one can quite agree on what a big "L" Libertarian should be. So much so that, ironically, that is their only unifying element. Each faction of the party quibbles about the .01% in which they find disagreement with the other factions that they can never agree. Hell, there are even major disagreements within those factions. It's a quadrennial circular firing squad.

This has been true for 30 years, but at least now they're coming around to realizing the type of candidate they need in order to be credible. They are still screwed by the electoral system, but I think the LP has made huge strides away from "ideological debate society" toward "genuine political party that plays the game of thrones".

 

[Nathan Hale]

Cant support Gary ever. He's for baby murdering. That is a hard line in the dirt for my vote.

Gary's policy prescription for abortion is exactly the same as Ron Pauls - devolve to the states. He just wraps it up in the verbiage of pro-choice (and who can blame him, the country is 70/30 on the issue).