As the major parties get ready to nominate candidates with two of the highest unfavorable ratings in recent history, the Libertarian Party chose its most politically experienced contenders for president and vice president.
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson prevailed on the second ballot at the Libertarian National Convention in Orland, Fla., Sunday. He was the party’s nominee in 2012, winning more than 1 million votes. That’s not much by major party standards, but George Wallace, John Schmitz, John Anderson, Ross Perot and Ralph Nader are the only other third-party candidates to cross that threshold since 1952.
In an even more closely fought race, Libertarians selected Johnson’s preferred running mate former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld for vice president. Like Johnson, Weld was a two-term Republican. But unlike the man at the top of the ticket, Weld is a recent convert to the Libertarian Party, having already endorsed John Kasich for president during this election cycle. He supported Mitt Romney in 2012.
Johnson’s nomination continues a winning streak for the party’s pragmatic wing that dates back to the nomination of former Congressman Bob Barr for president in 2008. But political calculations don’t come easy for the Libertarian Party and there was a significant “Anybody but Gary” contingent seeking to deny Johnson the nomination.
Thus we ended up with the brokered convention we had been promised by political pundits for months, with the front-runner failing to win the majority on the first. But unlike the conventional wisdom about what would happen to Donald Trump if he couldn’t win on the first ballot, Johnson actually gained strength as the voting progressed.
Weld also didn’t win until the second ballot despite receiving plurality support on the first. Runner-up Larry Sharpe picked up 145 votes on the second ballot to just 15 extra for Weld, but it was enough. After his own race was wrapped up, Johnson implored delegates to choose Weld.
“If it’s not Bill Weld, I don’t think we have the opportunity of being elected president of the United States,” Johnson said. “Bill Weld was my role model.”
It’s possible that with Trump and Hillary Clinton’s unpopularity with segments of the general electorate that any third choice could do well in November. Second-place finisher Austin Petersen is pro-life, which won him some conservative endorsements that could have been helpful with #NeverTrump voters. Third-place finisher John McAfee is a household name, or at least his antivirus software is.
But by nominating Johnson, the Libertarians made it more likely their presidential candidate will get more mainstream press coverage. Johnson has already hit the double digits in at least three reputable national polls. He is more likely to be included in future polls than any of his rivals.
In a race as close as the Trump-Clinton matchup currently is, even a small sliver of the popular vote could be enough to flip states in the Electoral College and affect the outcome. In 2000, Nader won less than 3 percent nationally and less than 2 percent in Florida. It was still enough to help decide the winner of the race between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
If Johnson can get his numbers up to 15 percent nationally, he will have a case to make for being the first third-party candidate included on the debate stage with the Democratic and Republican nominees since Perot in 1992. Ronald Reagan debated Anderson and Jimmy Carter separately.
All this was a core part of Johnson’s argument for Weld too. He said the former Massachusetts governor would help him get into the debates. “If it’s not Bill Weld, I don’t think that happens.”
Failure to consistently qualify for the debates is what led Johnson to end his 2012 Republican presidential campaign, bolt from the GOP and seek the Libertarian nomination in the first place. His performances in this year’s Libertarian debates drew mixed reviews. A debate held on the eve of the presidential vote showcased the party’s fringier side, asking candidates to elaborate on whether the government should require driver’s licenses or the U.S. should have entered World War II. (Johnson was for driver’s licenses but punted on the two world wars.)
This was enough to have some Libertarians questioning whether their party’s front-runner was a statist. Others objected to the LP being used as a fallback option or vehicle for the aspirations of failed Republicans.
A lower-tiered candidate compared his pro-choice stand to supporting the legality of cheeseburgers despite personally adhering to dietary restrictions that forbid mixing meat and dairy products. Johnson’s position on abortion is more moderate, but he is still pro-choice until fetal viability and isn’t seen as an ally of social conservatives on issues such as religious liberty.
Weld has an even more strongly pro-choice record and was an early Republican champion of gay rights. While that mix of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism may potentially help the ticket appeal to a large swathe of voters, it also offers relatively little to #NeverTrump social conservatives.
Nevertheless, the Libertarian Party has an opportunity in an election cycle where this is widespread dissatisfaction with the two main choices and other options have failed to come to fruition. The Johnson-Weld ticket is widely seen as an attempt to take advantage of this situation, something Libertarians were by no means certain to do.
