Yesterday I mentioned the prospective Libertarian Party ticket of Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld. The website for the Johnson campaign is here. Lots of things to see there, but perhaps the most visually compelling are some of the videos. I especially liked this one:
Johnson and Weld represent, I think, a libertarianism that really predates the Libertarian Party--or at least the Paulian resurgence of libertarianism in 2007-2008. They were Republicans of a different kind in the 90's and early 2000's. They may not have read all of the libertarian "texts", and may seem not very philosophically grounded to the younger generation of libertarians, but they are--like many of us--disaffected (and perhaps even unwelcome) in today's Republican party.
I am, of course, a little biased. I met Governor Johnson several times in the 2009-2011 time frame. in 2010, he came to Nebraska to speak to our Republican Liberty Caucus-Nebraska convention, and also spoke at a fundraiser for the RLCNE.
There are, of course, others running for the Libertarian nomination (although from the outside, it looks like Johnson is the front runner). Another interesting candidate (and seemingly the closest competitor with Johnson) is Austin Petersen (website here). As I lurk on the pages of my Libertarian friends, it appears to me that he appeals to many of the younger, Paul-type Libertarians. In reading through some of his web page, and watching some of his videos, he seems to be much more grounded in libertarian philosophy. He's young, he's internet savvy, and he's well spoken. His YouTube page has an abundance of video--some in brief pieces, some in larger chunks. He's also done a good job of attending a lot of the State Libertarian Party Conventions, where I had a VERY brief interaction with him (I was invited to speak at the Nebraska LP Convention last month as--I guess--the most Libertarian like legislator in the Nebraska Legislature).
Petersen appears (as of today) to be Glenn Beck's new favorite candidate.
Petersen and Johnson seem to be the most likely nominees. There are several others out there, but probably the most interesting one is John McAfee--software security guru and billionaire. It seems that he is viewed as a little bit TOO eccentric, even for the Libertarian Party, and is a dark horse candidate at best. McAfee seems (at least based on a scan of his website and looking at a few of his campaign videos) to be running a pro-Libertarian campaign, as opposed to a pro-McAfee campaign. His campaign is emphasizing the #VoteDifferent idea. Here's one of his videos, which is reminiscent of some of the "best of" the Ron Paul campaigns.
Watch for reports coming out of Orlando next weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) as they have their convention. Who they choose--and why they choose that person--will probably say much about the future of the Libertarian Party.
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