Courtesy Gage Skimmer
With recent public opinion surveys showing that Democratic Nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Nominee Donald J. Trump both have high unfavorable ratings, voters are looking for an alternative to the two-party system. Last night, Governor Gary Johnson, the former Republican Governor of New Mexico, and William Weld, the former Republican Governor of Massachusetts, took to the stage with CNN’s Anderson Cooper and pitched their Libertarian message. A recent Fox News survey shows that the Libertarian ticket garners 12% support across the nation. Johnson and Weld must reach 15% support to participate in the televised debates this fall. During the town hall, Johnson and Weld sold themselves as ” fiscally conservative and socially liberal”,and they fielded many questions from an audience with a vast array of political views. Topics discussed ranged from marijuana to ISIS and from balancing budgets to LGBT rights.
As two Republican Governors from blue states, they discussed the need to compromise with both Democrats and Republicans to achieve a balanced budget. They both proposed an across-the-board twenty percent reduction in government spending on Cabinet departments and agencies including the Department of Defense. Governor Johnson also advocated for the elimination of the Department of Education and opted to leave the job of educating our children to the states which he described as the“laboratories of innovation and best practices”.Towing a line similar to that of the Republican ticket, Johnson and Weld promised to bring an end to what they deem as the overspending, the excessive regulation, and the overtaxation of American enterprise.He promised an end to “crony capitalism” by ending the specials tax loopholes in favor of a lower and flatter tax rate. However, they promised to “keep out of your pocket and out of your bedroom” in a break from the cultural conservatism of most Republicans.
On the stage, Bill Weld touted the Libertarian ticket as “socially inclusive.” Weld belabored the point that he was pro-LGBT rights before it was popular. As a governor in the nineties, he passed legislation to allow for the bereavement and visitation rights of gays and lesbians. Johnson also expressed support for the Second Amendment and called for the enforcement of laws already on the books. Gary Johnson touched upon another thorny issue: the legalization of marijuana. He got into an exchange with a voter who was apprehensive about the legalization of marijuana because of the high concentration of THC in the marijuana that is currently distributed in Colorado where the drug is legal. She was also worried about the use in children. He tried to assuage her fears by promising the further research in the drug. According to Johnson, this can only be achieved by reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule 1 narcotic.
Voters in the audience also displayed nervousness about the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, in Europe, and here in the United States. In order to repel the threat of both terror cells and lone wolf terrorists, William Weld, channeling his experience as a federal prosecutor, called for a supplemental appropriations bill forming a one-thousand-man task force in the FBI to tackle the issues posed by ISIS. To deal with ISIS, the two called for surgical strikes similar to the raid that took out Osama Bin Ladin. While Gary Johnson stressed that he would be tough on terror, he denounced what he called “nation building” in favor of “noninterventionist” foreign policy. After two wars financed by debt, he stress that it was not only the moral thing to do. Doing so would also lower the debt.
Johnson and Weld presented themselves as an alternative to the two party system. However, they have a long way to go if they ever hope to compete. Anderson Cooper stressed that Donald Trump raised 80 million dollars on one month with Hillary topping that sum. Johnson’s campaign has only raised 1.4 Million during the entirety of the campaign. Without the exposure of the debates, which can only happen if Johnson and Weld get 15% of the vote in public opinion surveys, the two face an insurmountable obstacle to compete with the massive fundraising machines dominated by the two-party system.
CNN will also be hosting a town hall with Green Party nominee Jill Stein and her running mate Ajamu Baraka in a few weeks.
Jimmy Nickerson 