# For Libertarians: Which candidate do you support? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 9, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421 "2016-05-09T19:00:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/21 "2016-05-11T02:18:16Z")
\*Former \*small-l libertarian here. During all my libertarian years, I never voted for anyone on the Libertarian ticket. And I voted for only one Republican . . . Gerald Ford, because I couldn’t stand Carter. All the other times, I voted Democratic. This time around, I’m holding my nose and voting for Hillary, though I have little respect for her. I consider Trump to be entirely dangerous, as is Sanders. They’re both anti-intellectual populist demagogues who have hoodwinked large percentages of the voting population. Sanders’ principles are mostly wrong, and Trump has none. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/22 "2016-05-11T02:33:07Z")
Bryan Caplan’s awesome quiz (on my phone or I would link to it) places me as a “medium-core” libertarian. I’m voting for Hillary. Partly out of pragmatism, and partly because she’s better on some libertarian issues than Johnson. My hope is that she’s more libertarian than her campaign suggests, especially on economic issues. That’s one of the nice things about supporting a politician like her–hope springs eternal that her real positions are different from her campaign ones! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/23 "2016-05-11T02:46:13Z")
Here’s the link: [Libertarian Purity Test](http://www.bcaplan.com/cgi-bin/purity.cgi) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/24 "2016-05-11T04:06:48Z")
The polls are showing a hella high number of undecideds: [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general\_election\_trump\_vs\_clinton-5491.html](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html) From 10-20% depending on the poll. Voters really don’t like these choices. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/25 "2016-05-11T05:40:11Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Gotta love [Joy Waymire.](http://2016.libertarian-party.org/Waymire/) > > > [@](#): > > > > She also believes that God has supernaturally intervened in her life on numerous occasions, including by manifesting several graphic and painful stigmata on her head, hands, feet, and side. Having once suffered from Hepatitis C, astigmatism, diabetes, thyroid disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, among a host of other tragic conditions that had her confined to a wheelchair, she says that she has been miraculously healed of all, with doctors unable to offer any rational medical explanation. > > Now if she can cure herself of disease, who’s to say she won’t have the economy humming right along in no time? **Bob** , I can’t take you seriously if you’re just going to quote selectively without mentioning her solid credentials as stated on her official party bio, such as this: > [@](#): > > Waymire is a deeply spiritual person, saying that she learned her faith as a child from a friend only she could see, called Becky. Her mother dismissed this phenomenon as a typical imaginary playmate, but today, as an adult, Waymire still believes Becky was real. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s a might fine hat she’s a-wearin’!! It’s not the hat that impresses me, it’s that she’s 63 but looks more like about 103 and seven weeks deceased. It must be all those incurable diseases she had, and having to put up with Becky. It is God’s will. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/26 "2016-05-11T06:02:08Z")
PPP finds that Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are taking more votes away from Clinton than Trump: > [@](#): > > The PPP survey included minor-party candidates Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party. When they were excluded, Clinton’s lead grew to six points > **[The Presidential Race Is Much Closer Than You Think](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/what-landslide/482088/)** > > A group of new polls released Tuesday shows a surprisingly tight battle between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/27 "2016-05-11T10:57:13Z")
I’ll vote for the Libertarian candidate. Gary Johnson is not bad, but he has a strange way of speaking, and he isn’t the most charismatic guy, either. Jesse Ventura has said he might attempt to grab the nomination at the convention, if so this could be the best option for Libertarians. He is more likely to get press coverage, and would have no problem grappling with Trump. I have no interest in 80% of his program, but I do believe that he is solidly against wars and the drug war. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/28 "2016-05-11T11:34:03Z")
VEntura, like Johnson, is paper qualified to be President but his conspiracymongering has drained his credibility over the years. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/29 "2016-05-11T11:37:43Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Jesse Ventura has said he might attempt to grab the nomination at the convention, if so this could be the best option for Libertarians. He is more likely to get press coverage, and would have no problem grappling with Trump. “grappling”. Heh. I’d like to see that… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/30 "2016-05-11T17:15:00Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > VEntura, like Johnson, is paper qualified to be President but his conspiracymongering has drained his credibility over the years. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be the major party nominees. Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz were major contenders. I don’t think credibility is first and foremost in the minds of the unwashed masses. In any case, there is a substantial untapped electorate on both the right and left who never vote, but would consider voting for a conspiracy theorist. Many people are conspiracy theorists. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/31 "2016-05-11T18:03:45Z")
Hmm the vast conspiracy theorist conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/32 "2016-05-12T04:03:45Z")
Nate Silver kinda makes the same point I’ve made, that Republicans aren’t really likely to do better with a new candidate than they will just by backing Gary Johnson: > **[Could An Independent Candidate Succeed In 2016?](https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/could-an-independent-candidate-succeed-in-2016/)** > > In this week’s politics Slack chat, we weigh the chances of a viable independent presidential candidate. The transcript below has been lightly edited. micah (Mi… > [@](#): > > natesilver: I’m just saying that you have to consider Johnson in your VORC (value over replacement candidate) calculation. If the alternative is some backbench U.S. representative or something, he’s not going to get very many votes that Johnson wouldn’t, you might not have a lot of enthusiasm for petitions to get him on the ballot, and the efforts might be better spent getting Libertarians on the ballot in more states. If it’s Romney or someone with a national profile, that’s way different. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/33 "2016-05-12T04:27:09Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Jesse Ventura has said he might attempt to grab the nomination at the convention, if so this could be the best option for Libertarians. 😕 What, Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho?! Was he ever a Libertarian or even a libertarian before?! (Sanders was never a Democrat before, but he was always a democrat.) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/34 "2016-05-12T05:13:33Z")
Ventura has actually always been a small-l libertarian, generally liberal on social issues, conservative on fiscal issues, and a noninterventionist abroad. So he at least deserves to be in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/35 "2016-05-12T05:51:04Z")
If Jesse Ventura were by some improbable stretch to be elected president, the six and a half billion people living in the rest of the world would collectively and simultaneously say “What the fuck?” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/36 "2016-05-12T05:55:59Z")
Moreso than if we elected Trump? At least Ventura has served and didn’t break the state he governed. Minnesota was a top state in many categories before Ventura, it continues to be after. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/37 "2016-05-12T05:57:14Z")
The attraction of Ventura, if we assume that the LP candidate can’t win, is that Ventura would probably get more press and votes than Johnson. So there’s that. Ventura is definitely a guy that could get the LP to the 5% threshold where they can get matching federal funds in 2020. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421/38 "2016-05-12T06:02:13Z")
No, I think the global reaction to president trump would be more like “Oh, come _on_. Seriously?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-libertarians-which-candidate-do-you-support/754421.md?page=1)