Back on September 26, I posted this on my FB feed, but clearly I didn’t address the issue here because I’ve been looking for supporting material and can’t find it.
So, now, we’re just shy of a month away from the actual election and it’s time to deal with the issue.
Civil Liberties
garyjohnson2012.com
I have been accused (inadvertently or not) of talking about only two candidates for President. There is only one other of the five still running for office who appears on all 50 state ballots, six weeks out from elections. That morning I woke up to a feature on NPR’s Morning Edition, highlighting Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate.
Leaving aside his world leadership and world geography gaffes (which are substantial), I was surprised to hear that former Governor Johnson believes in legalizing marijuana, in marriage equality and in a woman’s right to make her own decisions during pregnancy until the point of viability of a fetus. I’m wondering how many of his supporters have paid attention to these three platform statements (viewable here: http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues).
To be fair, here are Dr. Jill Stein’s issues (Green Party): http://www.jill2016.com/platform.
Darrell Castle (Constitution Party): http://www.constitutionparty.com/.
Folks who support these three alternative candidates should read their platforms very closely. You might be surprised to see what each candidate believes.
If, as it presently appears, the US House will retain its majority of GOP over other candidates, I think Dr. Stein’s chances of achieving her goals are slim to none, much as I agree with her stance on some issues.
But she simply isn’t a viable candidate. Goode isn’t either. Neither is polling in numbers to sufficiently dent Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com predictions, and I believe both are actually irrelevant to the election at this point. A vote for either one (despite all the yowling of the Greens I know) is a waste of time, except for one thing: Taking that vote away from Hillary Clinton gives Trump an advantage he wouldn’t have otherwise.
Gary Johnson is no prize. He’s largely acknowledged as a Republican running in Libertarian clothing, and he’s got the backing of the Koch brothers because they aren’t wasting their money on Trump. There’s no point. He’s in it for himself and not even Pence will be able to stop him until he gets bored with being Emperor of North America um…I mean, President. And if he was running for the ONLY third party (there are half a dozen in this race) he still couldn’t win, but he could do significant damage.
But some folks have done some digging and I dislike what I see:
The Gary Johnson Swindle and the Degradation of Third Party Politics
I just don’t think it’s worth the risk.
Be educated before you walk into the voting booth.