Gary Johnson: The Libertarian Party’s Presidential Nominee

With the Democratic and Republican parties screaming over each other, demanding to be heard in their opposing beliefs, it can be easy to forget that other parties exist. However, a different political group is climbing out of the woodwork: the Libertarian Party has announced their nominee for the 2016 Presidential election, the former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson.

On Sunday, May 29th, Johnson announced during a press release that he is up to the challenge of this tumultuous election season. He won the nomination at the Libertarian Convention, held in Orlando, Florida.

The 63-year-old Libertarian will be flanked by his running mate, former Massachusetts Governor William Weld. He has announced that his ultimate goal is to bring his party out from the shadows. The word ‘libertarian’ hardly holds much weight against the GOP or the Democratic Party – a stigma that Johnson is fighting to change. American history has never seen an outside party’s candidate be elected as President of the United States. The closest any prospective candidate has ever gotten was Theodore Roosevelt in 1912; he finished second to Woodrow Wilson. Could this be the year that a third party goes all the way?

For Johnson to be taken seriously, he has to majorly make up for his lack of numbers in the polls. If he were to continue to advertise his beliefs and intended policies, surely some voters will perk up in response and join his movement. His intentions for the White House seem to be in line with what many young people these days believe – “people should be allowed to do anything that doesn’t hurt others.” He supports abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and drug legalization.

Trump and Clinton, while they both have their support systems, also have large groups of dissatisfied voters. It seems that voters are trying to pick the lesser of two evils, with these two possible front-runners. It is highly possible that Gary Johnson could snag the demographics who are having trouble picking a candidate who deserves their vote.

Johnson is taking his running very seriously. He said to the Associated Press, “I am fiscally conservative in spades and I am socially liberal in spades … I would cut back on military interventions that have the unintended consequence of making us less safe in the world.”

Could 2016 be the year of electoral change? United States history could very well be made come January 2017, with the first third-party candidate being inaugurated as the President of the United States. Gary Johnson has as good of a chance as any to be the next Commander-in-Chief – it all depends on whether American voters agree.

Featured Image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore