The convention mostly made headlines for selecting former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson to head the party’s presidential ticket with ex-Massachusetts Gov. William Weld as his running mate, but some observers noted that Weeks’ stunt could have a negative effect on the party.
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“Please, give me Bill Weld”, Johnson said. “I realize the confidence you’ve put in me to be that spokesperson, and I’m very, very grateful for that”.
Johnson first ran on the Libertarian ticket four years ago and won only about 1 percent of the popular vote. According to the Libertarian Party, a recent national poll has Johnson receiving 10% of support from registered voters, drawing the most respondents from those under 35.
While his big party opponents have election budgets nearing a billion dollars, the Libertarian party spent $2.5 million (2.2 million euros) on its 2012 campaign.
Mr Johnson served as New Mexico’s governor from 1995 to 2003 as a Republican after a career as the owner of one of the state’s largest construction companies.
This is while 65 percent of the respondents said they were willing to support any candidate but Trump and Clinton.
Here’s a thought: Johnson and Weld will have been successful if they manage to get some libertarian notions into the conversation over the next five months. In addition to immigration participants particularly took issue with Trump’s stated positions on worldwide trade and national security – all of which stand in firm opposition to a party that tends to favor lax immigration restrictions, free trade and is skeptical of military intervention. He joined the Libertarian party in December 2011 and was nominated as the party’s official Presidential candidate in 2012.
Most of those candidates are more aligned with the party’s Radical Caucus, standing against the more moderate tone Johnson wants to take on the national campaign trail.
“In many cases illegal immigrants are taken much better care by this country than our veterans and that’s not going to happen”, Trump said. Gary Johnson as its nominee on Sunday, which means that he’ll be on the ballot in all 50 states come November. With so-called Republican Donald Trump set to face Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, and with the two candidates disliked like no pair before them, voters may well be open to taking a gander at a third option. During their presidential debate on Saturday night, the candidates didn’t really fight with each other.
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Some delegates to the Libertarian National Convention clapped and danced along at first, but he lost the crowd after stripping down to his skivvies and black socks.
