Libertarian Party Selects Gary Johnson As Presidential Nominee

[NewRightLibertarian]

Its more a reflection of the lemons that we have to "choose" from.

Johnson > Trump or Hillary, fat cuck notwithstanding.

Not like anyone is suggesting LP over Rand...

I understand the logic, but Gary Johnson is going to get trounced out there if he somehow gets in the debates. We are going to look terrible if this sell-out ticket has even minor success. Welk is absolutely abysmal too, and he will be representing libertarianism for at least 5 months now. No self-respecting libertarian should support Johnson/Weld.

 

[H. E. Panqui]

No self-respecting libertarian should support Johnson/Weld.


​...true, dat...but anyone supporting trump OR ANY STINKING REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT has no room to talk...none...

 

[T.hill]

There are some good things to say about Gary, but I think he's an intellectual lightweight. Not only does he seem to have a shaky grasp of libertarian ethics and economics -- he doesn't even seem to have much intellectual curiosity at all.

Tom Woods did an analysis of the Johnson/Weld ticket on his show today, and while Tom sometimes disappointed me with his analysis of Rand he was spot on in his analysis of Gary Johnson. I hoped that Gary would have took some time between 2012 and now to read up on Austrian economics and the libertarian tradition to build a more coherent and consistent set of principles. However, as Tom noted today it seems like he didn't do much reading at all between then and now.

Gary is without a doubt better than Hillary, Bernie, or Trump -- but his VP choice is not so good and it could be argued that he's simply a socially liberal Republican. Vote for him if you wish, but I'm hoping a senior adviser joins the Johnson campaign with more libertarian bonafides to help him smooth out some inconsistencies he holds.

What's funny about all of this, and I think most would agree, is Rand pretty obviously more libertarian than Gary, even while he was running for president (for the REPUBLICAN nomination mind you). Senator Rand Paul is no question more libertarian than Gary.

 

[younglibertarian]

There are some good things to say about Gary, but I think he's an intellectual lightweight. Not only does he seem to have a shaky grasp of libertarian ethics and economics -- he doesn't even seem to have much intellectual curiosity at all.

Tom Woods did an analysis of the Johnson/Weld ticket on his show today, and while Tom sometimes disappointed me with his analysis of Rand he was spot on in his analysis of Gary Johnson. I hoped that Gary would have took some time between 2012 and now to read up on Austrian economics and the libertarian tradition to build a more coherent and consistent set of principles. However, as Tom noted today it seems like he didn't do much reading at all between then and now.

Gary is without a doubt better than Hillary, Bernie, or Trump -- but his VP choice is not so good and it could be argued that he's simply a socially liberal Republican. Vote for him if you wish, but I'm hoping a senior adviser joins the Johnson campaign with more libertarian bonafides to help him smooth out some inconsistencies he holds.

What's funny about all of this, and I think most would agree, is Rand pretty obviously more libertarian than Gary, even while he was running for president (for the REPUBLICAN nomination mind you). Senator Rand Paul is no question more libertarian than Gary.

Agreed. + rep

 

[Jingles]

I honestly won't be voting for Gary Johnson this year. I did in 2012, but I don't think I can this year. Back then I thought, "well he isn't as good as Ron Paul but he is at least a utilitarian libertarian of some kind... (i.e. the socially liberal, fiscally conservative kind), but he hasn't gotten better with time at all. Like I thought him getting into the LP would have made him really go out and learn and become more libertarian. It seems like the opposite has occurred. And this VP pick... Well that says it all.

Gary Johnson truly doesn't understand libertarianism or he just doesn't want to embrace it. I can't tell which. If you are in the LP I just assume everyone is throwing Rothbard and Mises books at you all the time until you read them (but maybe I don't understand the LP too well because i have never actually met anyone involved in it or been to anything related to it myself).

I honestly feel like Trump is the lesser of evils at this point. And felt it more or less when everyone came out to hate him (the media, the republican establishment, the democratic establishment, SJWs, liberals in general, etc...). Pretty much 95% of the people I hate in the political or media arena hate Trump. So he is doing something right. He has many flaws. Protectionism for example (but Pat is into that as well, but he is a great ally of ours).

I feel like Trump is a kind of populist dumbed-down version of Pat Buchanan. Which, I would rather deal with than a fake libertarian like Johnson or that horrid lady that I could call all kinds of foul names.

And everything happening in Europe... We really need to stop our horrible immigration policies. In a perfect world I want open borders, but we can either have a welfare state or open borders. Right now we have both. Illegal immigrants are getting more money and healthcare from the state than veterans... Ideally I want no welfare to anyone.

I used to be a lot more (I don't know if I can think of a correct term)... I guess, "loose" on illegal immigration... but the more and more I read the less I think they are just "people trying to make a better life". Same with the refugees. And I have always been very critical of Alex Jones, but everytime I listen to him anymore... I just agree with everything he says other than being like "well I don't know about that". Well, other than some nonsense pop stuff and whatnot. And i'm not into the whole organic thing.

I don't know what else to say. I'm, just rambling at this point and may have had one too many a beer. But idk, man... I think this election is much more about defending western culture than it is really defending our ideas.

 

[Jingles]

To ramble onward... Our country has literally gone nuts. Like really. Everyone is either dumb, retarded, or crazy at this point. Trump is just a reflection of the times good or bad. I know we thought it would be our year... 2016... WE built so much and worked so hard to work our way into maybe having Rand as president. But, our country is literally crazy. People only care about their tv shows, their food, or whatever. My job doesn't give me any hope for this country either (carwash, the people that come their are lazy, insanely obese, dumb, and or all of the above... And I've dealt with this idiotic population for years).

I don't know. I have no faith in the people of this country. I did I little bit between 2008-2012, but really I no longer think the american people are intelligent enough to actually embrace freedom. So I guess for me voting for Trump is just a "burn it all down" vote. Which is fine enough with me. I'll survive whatever as long as a nuke isn't dropped on my house. And I honestly feel like a Hillary presidency would cause either a civil war or start another world war.

Still rambling, I don't care anymore. I'll live free in my own life. Apparently Americans don't care if they are free or not.

"The only way to survive a mad world is to embrace the madness." -Victor Strand

 

[TheTexan]

Bill Kristol joining the LP could bring some much needed establishment and MIC money. He could also bring in credible candidates. Imagine a Sasse/Cotton ticket. Or Rubio/Sasse. Or Rubio/Ayotte. Or Cotton/Cheney (Liz). The possibilities are endless. The LP would have more success than ever. A truly viable third Party.

Ya, Gary is way too extreme libertarian for most people. A more conservative libertarian, that has a good fiscal record, like Rubio or Ryan, could do quite well in the LP.

Maybe then we truly could have a viable third party.

 

[Jingles]

Ya, Gary is way too extreme libertarian for most people. A more conservative libertarian, that has a good fiscal record, like Rubio or Ryan, could do quite well in the LP.

Maybe then we truly could have a viable third party.

I love your sarcasm... That I hope is...

 

[Lovecraftian4Paul]

Yes, Jingles, your take is a lot like mine on this election. I'm all for Trump this time, but I really don't fault anyone for voting Johnson, Darrell Castle, or writing in Ron/Rand. After being deep in several election cycles, the third party candidate debate just feels like a bad rerun of 2008 and 2012 to me. I don't see the point of squabbling so much over what Johnson will do (now that he's officially the LP candidate) or what the Constitution Party believes about X. None of these parties combined will come close to achieving a large share of the vote, let alone actually electing a President.

Did it matter whether anyone voted for Barr or Baldwin in 2008? I think most would agree the answer is no. Neither even got 1% of the popular vote. So far, most signs point to the current crop of third party candidates not doing much better. Yeah, I'm ignoring third party polling with Johnson near 10% unless it holds into August. They always do triple or quadruple what they actually receive this far out. Nader polled 5-10% in 2008, too, and ended up under 1%.

All the arguments about what they will or won't do or what they believe seems really theoretical. If someone is so sour about the Presidential race that they can't get behind anyone with any enthusiasm, they'd might as well forget about the top of the ticket and focus on local races.