Courtesy TEDx LondonBusinessSchool
From Provo, Utah, Evan McMullin was born the son of David and Lanie McMullin. As a follower of the Mormon faith, he attended Provo’s Brigham Young University where he studied both International Law and Diplomacy. He then went on to attend The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania to earn his Master’s in Business Administration. As a rite of passage for most Mormons, he served as an LDS missionary in Brazil. He also volunteered as a Refugee Resettlement Officer in Amman, Jordan on behalf of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. McMullin went to train as a CIA operative in Langley, VA and act as a part of counterterrorism and intelligence operations in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia in the global War on Terror.
After over a decade of service in the CIA, Evan McMullin went to work at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker where he assisted companies gain capital and facilitated mergers and acquisitions. He left Goldman Sachs in 2013 to join the House Committee on Foreign Affairs as a senior advisor. He then became the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference. He would then resign from his role in the House Republican Conference to run as an independent candidate for President.
As a central tenant of his economic platform, McMullin calls for an end to a “system that too often benefits the politically connected and the corporate elite, while leaving too many Americans behind.” He also calls for a simpler tax code and regulatory relief that fosters “innovation, entrepreneurship and opportunity.” McMullin supports the complete “repeal and replace” of the Affordable Care Act. Instead, he would rather put in place regulatory reforms that would encourage free competition. Although he states that vulnerable populations, including patients with preexisting conditions, should be protected, he does not go into specifics of how he would achieve this goal. He also plans to expand energy production across the board, “including natural gas, oil, nuclear, and renewables.” Evan McMullin states that he wants to negotiate new trade deals and enforce the terms of prior trade agreements. However, in stark contrast with Donald Trump’s platform, McMullin asserts that “closing doors to trade opportunities won’t bring back jobs, but it will make life for everyday Americans more expensive, and reduce our ability to sell our goods around the world.”
As a social conservative, Evan McMullin is pro-life. On his campaign website he laments a “culture that subsidizes abortion on demand”, and he calls on Americans to band together “to increase support and resources to reduce unintended pregnancies and encourage adoption, even if they may have different opinions on abortion rights.” He also supports the Second Amendment and wants to address the challenges that are posed by terrorists, criminals, and the mentally ill without compromising gun rights. While he is personally against same-sex marriage, he respects the high court’s precedent in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that legalized same-sex marriage across the United States, and he would not use opposition to the decision as a litmus test for judicial candidates. An area of great contrast with Donald Trump is McMullin’s support of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants after the border is secure.
While he does not go into specifics, McMullin states that we must remain the strongest military in the world. He says that “we need to provide (our military) with the technology, training, and support to defeat the threats of today and secure our nation in the future.” McMullin also articulates a vision of a strong America that does not back away from the world’s challenges like the rise of ISIS. He expresses that “without American leadership, the cause of liberty at home and abroad suffers, global instability increases and threats to the homeland multiply.” He furthermore pronounces that, as the preeminent actor in the global community, we must stand up for human rights and strong alliances abroad.
Evan McMullin faces an uphill climb in his quest for the Presidency. He has missed many ballot deadlines across the country, limiting his chances of an electoral victory. He has to amass a fundraising and organizing structure in the matter of a few months. While he is influential in Washington D.C. circles, he is unknown to the vast majority of voters. However, his relatively traditional conservative platform may resonate with conservative voters who just aren’t convinced that Trump has the temperament to be President.
Jimmy Nickerson 