In an election year in which American voters dislike the presumptive Republican and Democratic nominees more than ever before, Libertarian running mates Gary Johnson and William Weld were given a historic opportunity on Wednesday when CNN broadcast a town hall for the third-party candidates.
Johnson and Weld said they are happy to provide an alternative to those feeling politically homeless.
“I believe that the two-party system is a two-party dinosaur and that they’re about to come in contact with the comet here,” Johnson stated. “I think that’s a real possibility.”
Here are four surprising take-aways from the town hall.
1. Government Should Step in to Defend Constitutional Rights
Confusion arose whenever the libertarians called for government intervention, and the duo had to remind everyone a few times that they’re not anarchists, but rather small government advocates.
Johnson said that the primary role of the federal government is to defend people’s constitutional rights, using abortion and same sex marriage as examples. He referred to both as the “law of the land,” rights protected by the U.S. Constitution.
“I think it’s okay for the government to be involved in ensuring clinic access because that’s guarding a fundamental constitutional right for an individual,” said Weld on abortion clinics. “That’s not nanny-state government; that’s good government.”
2. They Don’t Want to Legalize All Drugs
Unlike Ron Paul, who called for legalizing all drugs in 2012, Gary Johnson made it clear that he is only in favor of legalizing marijuana. However, he did admit that the War on Drugs has done more to increase drug abuse and fatalities than to prevent it.
“It’s prohibition — it’s quality, quantity unknown — that kills people,” Johnson said. “We have the best policies in this country to kill heroin addicts.”
Rather than treating drug use as a criminal justice issue, he suggested treating it as a public health issue, advocating for a series of harm prevention programs, including needle exchanges and safe-injection zones where addicts can have their drugs tested for potentially lethal additives and ingest the drugs under observation to prevent overdosing.
3. They Don’t Want to Build a Wall
“I find both of [Donald Trump’s] statements incendiary, and I am speaking as a border-state governor,” Johnson said of the Republican front-runner’s proposal to deport an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants and build a wall on the Mexican border. “We should make it as easy as possible for somebody who wants to come into this country to work to get a work visa. They are not taking jobs U.S. citizens want. These are hardworking individuals.”
William Weld went even further, likening Trump’s immigration policy to the Nazis’ round up of the Jews.
“I think Trump has succeeded in tapping into the very worst political traditions in the United States and other countries,” he said. “The amount of fear engendered in Europe…Anne Frank hiding in the attic, hoping no noise would alert the Nazis below, they’re directly analogous. The roundup that he has proposed…that’s going to generate a lot of fear, pit citizens and non-citizens against the government.”
4. Bernie Sanders Was Right… Sort Of
Bernie Sanders gathered millennial support by calling attention to the influence of money in politics and to the fact that politicians and votes are bought by the wealthy. Johnson thinks this is a major problem as well, but he proposes a small government solution.
“If I could wave a magic wand, I would eliminate income tax, I would eliminate corporate tax, I would abolish the IRS, and I would replace it all with one federal consumption tax,” he stated. “If you did away with the IRS, 80 percent of lobbyists would go away, because they’re there to garner special tax favors.”
The two also reminded viewers that their campaign only has about $175,000 on hand, but that they believe they’ll still be able to make a splash in the 2016 election.
“Doesn’t it speak volumes that we are sitting here on the money that we have raised?” Johnson asked. “So it is a different kind of campaign — earned media, social media — and we’re looking to take as much advantage as we can on that.”
