# Johnson/Weld campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 23, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446 "2016-05-23T07:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/1 "2016-05-23T07:34:12Z")
Not sure if this thread will last, but William Weld, hoping to become VP on the LP ticket, made an inflammatory statement about Donald Trump’s deportation plan, comparing it to Nazism. But what interests me more is the strength of the likely LP ticket. This is a party that used to aspire to getting a Congressman and usually didn’t even do that much. Now they’ve got two legit former governors on the ticket, assuming the delegates to the convention do the sane thing. The crazy thing is that the LP ticket might be able to do something they’ve never been able to do before: claim an experience edge over the major party candidates. Trump will be easy, Clinton a little harder to do, but even in her case, none of her experience is executive. Johnson and Weld enjoy 14 years of executive experience between them. This is no fringe ticket. These are two former popular governors with a proven record of success. If the media is truly appalled by Donald Trump, they should really be focusing on Johnson/Weld. Give them all the free media Trump got during the primaries and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/2 "2016-05-23T10:32:00Z")
It’s still an irrelevant third party ticket. Both men out of office for over ten years. Neither a major player in Republican politics. They’ll have a debate with the other 3rd party candidates on C-Span 2 at 3:00 AM on a Saturday and be ignored. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/3 "2016-05-23T11:13:14Z")
Weld already seems to understand the Trump game though. He made the headline on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com). ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/4 "2016-05-23T12:35:19Z")
I hadn’t bothered to seek him out, but I always wondered what happened to Weld after leaving the MA governor’s mansion. He always seemed to be a Republican who flirted with reasonableness from time to time; probably because he worked with such an overwhelmingly Democratic legislature. It would be nice to see them gain some traction as a Trump alternative for the conservatives, but that seems like wishful thinking. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/5 "2016-05-23T12:38:26Z")
Well, the initial poll showed 11%, and another poll showed 13% choosing “other candidates”. I have no doubt that the ticket will set a new record, maybe 2 million votes this time? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/6 "2016-05-23T12:46:11Z")
> [@](#): > > On Saturday morning, pollster Doug Schoen released the results of a poll conducted in mid-May with 1,000 likely voters. Fifty-one percent liked the idea of a third-party candidate. Twenty percent would favor a “generic” candidate in a race with Trump and Hillary Clinton. The Libertarian Party, which will decide next weekend whether to nominate Weld for vice president and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson for president, got no mention at all. > [@](#): > > Those [#NeverTrump] conservatives also have little reason to get behind a possible Johnson-Weld ticket. Both men are antiabortion and gay rights advocates. Both have moved toward a less interventionist foreign policy – Weld, a one-time Iraq War booster, has had to move faster. Austin Petersen, the most social media-savvy of Johnson’s opponents, has aggressively courted conservative tastemakers such as Glenn Beck to warn that the possible anti-Trump coalition would fracture if Johnson won. [Libertarian candidates draw attention, as #NeverTrump campaigners look elsewhere!](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/22/libertarian-candidates-draw-attention-as-nevertrump-campaigners-look-elsewhere/) And I guess the CNN headline was short lived ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/7 "2016-05-23T12:53:15Z")
Thing is, there’s nowhere else to look. It’s either the LP ticket or Trump or Clinton for right-wingers. You hate the LP’s foreign policy, then vote for Clinton, she agrees with us on foreign policy for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/8 "2016-05-23T13:06:48Z")
The best they can hope for is to break the 5% barrier and get themselves set up to sit at the big kid’s table next time. Anything else is out of reach. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/9 "2016-05-23T13:07:04Z")
I think they have a good chance to get 5-10%, and an outside chance to get \>15% (this would probably require a major scandal/meltdown for Trump). In the long run, I think the country would be better off if the Libertarian party actually gains steam – this would probably motivate other third parties and help break the 2 party duopoly. But in the short and medium term, I hope they do well because it will hurt the Republican party, which, IMO, has become extremely damaging and threatening to the country . ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/10 "2016-05-23T13:32:05Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think they have a good chance to get 5-10%, and an outside chance to get \>15% (this would probably require a major scandal/meltdown for Trump). I’ll be shocked if they break 1%. I don’t see many disaffected Democrats gong Libertarian and the kind of Republicans that are turned off by Trump will more than likely hold their noses and vote for HRC (e.g., PJ O’Rourke types). ---
**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 23, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/11 "2016-05-23T13:32:32Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > In the long run, I think the country would be better off if the Libertarian party actually gains steam – this would probably motivate other third parties and help break the 2 party duopoly. But in the short and medium term, I hope they do well because it will hurt the Republican party, which, IMO, has become extremely damaging and threatening to the country . This. Even without Trump, the Republicans are running on fumes (their “establishment” candidate was Cruz???). And it’s not like the Democrats are any less “damaging and threatening to the country.” Both parties have reached such a low point that I just may vote Libertarian this time around. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/12 "2016-05-23T13:47:04Z")
I think this year is likely to be the best chance the Libertarian Party have to get some traction amongst voters. Sure, they’ll be extremely lucky to break 10% but as **Jonathan Chance** noted above they need to play the long game here and aim for a seat at the big table next time - all they need is to demonstrate credibility. If they’re canny they might also land one or two downticket wins if they can get the publicity for their candidates. I’ve seen Johnson do a few interviews and he’s come across as reasonable in those; I remember nothing about Weld at all. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/13 "2016-05-23T13:50:48Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And it’s not like the Democrats are any less “damaging and threatening to the country.” I think it’s exactly like that – the Democratic party sucks, but they are far, far less “damaging and threatening to the country” than the Republican party, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/14 "2016-05-23T14:29:18Z")
They got 0.4% in 2008. They got 1% in 2012. If the upward trend continues they may get 1.4% in 2016. Nah. 1%. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/15 "2016-05-23T16:40:26Z")
I’m not much of a libertarian, but if they go with # **FeeltheJohnson** I will absolutely switch my vote over to them. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/16 "2016-05-23T18:25:12Z")
The LP seems to have taken a different approach the last couple of cycles. They used to really nominate fairly strong Libertarian types: Ron Paul, Andre Marrou, Harry Browne, and Michael Badnarik. They all did horribly. Then, they switched to nominating Republican-sorta-more-libertarian-than-most types who had had successful careers as Republican politicians: Bob Barr and Gary Johnson. Johnson, in particular, was much more successful, breaching the 1% threshold, and may do even better this year. So they’ve sort of sold out their soul for a tiny, tiny taste of getting 1% of the votes. Good job, guys! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/17 "2016-05-23T18:39:43Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > This is no fringe ticket. Yes, it is. Due to Trump’s unexpected nomination, the Libertarians may achieve record new heights in this election. Let’s dream big - they might get five percent. But they’ll still be a fringe party. Compare what happened to Bernie Sanders to what happened to Rand Paul. One tapped into a pool of tens of millions of supporters who shared his beliefs. And one did not. Libertarians have to accept the fact that there is no wide-spread support for their platform in this country. We are not a libertarian country. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/18 "2016-05-23T19:10:33Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’ll be shocked if they break 1%. I don’t see many disaffected Democrats gong Libertarian and the kind of Republicans that are turned off by Trump will more than likely hold their noses and vote for HRC (e.g., PJ O’Rourke types). They got .9% last time. Given the wide dissatisfaction with the candidates, beating 1% should be a gimme. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/19 "2016-05-23T19:13:25Z")
> [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](#): > > The LP seems to have taken a different approach the last couple of cycles. They used to really nominate fairly strong Libertarian types: Ron Paul, Andre Marrou, Harry Browne, and Michael Badnarik. They all did horribly. Then, they switched to nominating Republican-sorta-more-libertarian-than-most types who had had successful careers as Republican politicians: Bob Barr and Gary Johnson. Johnson, in particular, was much more successful, breaching the 1% threshold, and may do even better this year. So they’ve sort of sold out their soul for a tiny, tiny taste of getting 1% of the votes. Good job, guys! I don’t think it’s selling out, so much as recognizing that there’s almost no support for that old LP platform, but there is massive potential support for a “small-l” libertarian movement. What they need to be is a moderate party that is liberal on social issues and conservative on economic issues, with a foreign policy that is biased towards non-intervention, although not dogmatic about any of those positions. THat’s how major parties attract wide support and it’s how the LP best takes advantage of the GOP meltdown. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/20 "2016-05-23T19:31:13Z")
I heard an interview with Johnson on NPR and he does indeed come across initially as fairly reasonable (compared to most Republicans, anyway)… until he talked about taxes, where he said he would “eliminate income tax, corporate tax, because we would do that, we could also abolish the IRS.” Womp, womp. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446.md?page=2)