Day two of the Libertarian National Convention: Presidential candidates take the stage
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Libertarian National Convention, 2016
 Date: November 8, 2016 |
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This page was current as of the 2016 election.
May 28, 2016
More than 900 delegates were eligible to cast tokens prior to the afternoon business meeting chaired by Nick Sarwark. Six candidates garnered enough tokens to be eligible for nomination by the delegation.[1] Of those, five reached the vote threshold for participating in the televised debate later that night. The debate saw front-runner Gary Johnson take some hits alongside Austin Petersen, while other candidates gained ground among more hardline Libertarians.
Presidential nominations
Candidates and their nominating committees were allotted 16 minutes each to speak on why they were seeking the nomination. The distribution of voting tokens prior to the meeting was as follows:
- Gary Johnson - 221
- Darryl W. Perry - 105
- Austin Petersen - 104
- John McAfee - 91
- Marc Allan Feldman - 76
- Kevin McCormick - 44
McAfee
McAfee was the first to speak on his nomination, and his tone was somewhat pessimistic. He stated outright that he believed he could not occupy the oval office and said the party had chosen a definition of "victory" that it could not achieve. He said that the party's goal should be to win the hearts and minds of the American people, not the presidency. The crowd seemed mildly receptive to this train of thought, with supporters standing and cheering at his conclusion.
Johnson
Johnson was up next, entering the stage to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Hoping to silence critics of the William Weld vice presidential pick, Johnson stated outright "I am not Republican-lite." He spoke considerably more to the core values of the party than McAfee did, and he received a loud round of applause when he called for the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service. He called the two-party system "broken" before exiting the stage to the same Eminem song.
Feldman
One of the speakers to introduce Feldman was Johnson himself. Another member of his nominating committee picked Feldman out as the only candidate who could win over Bernie Sanders supporters, pointing to Feldman's Jewish heritage. Feldman played a video of himself rapping his credentials and platform—viewable below.
| Marc Allan Feldman - Thuglife Libertarian Rap |
Petersen
Petersen was introduced by a supporter who touted the candidate's experience building a strong volunteer base in multiple states. He elicited a loud round of applause when he said that America should end the Federal Reserve. He acknowledged that some within the party might find it hard to vote for him given his belief that every human being has a right to life, beginning at conception. His anti-abortion stance could be a hard sell in a party predicated on personal choice.
Perry
Perry did not speak for himself, but had a handful of supporters each speak about the need for change within the current political system and decry a number of American policies.
McCormick
McCormick spoke briefly about the need for Americans to stop fighting each other and come together. He then emotionally spoke about the party's need to "take off its gloves" and continue hitting out against the establishment.
The crowd responded best to Johnson, with Petersen second in that regard. McAfee's initial remarks were not well-received, but the crowd applauded when he spoke of winning hearts and minds. Feldman got delegates clapping to the beat of his rap song, but the trio of Feldman, McCormick, and Perry certainly trailed the other three candidates in terms of crowd support.
Delegate thoughts
Prior to the presidential debate, Ballotpedia spoke to a pair of delegates from Pennsylvania. Both were involved in the party's youth movement and each had a ticket they wanted to see win nomination. Jeffrey Mitchell was not shy in his support of a Johnson/Weld ticket, saying he cast his ballot on the first day and would not be changing it. He was excited to see the various wings of the party come together for the debate, lauding a happy medium of debate participants between what he viewed as too many candidates in Republican debates. He said he respected Weld for leaving a more established party and that moderates add to the party rather than detract from it.
Trent Somes, fresh off his election as a regional alternate delegate to the national committee, said he supported Petersen for president and leaned towards Larry Sharpe for his vice presidential pick. He was most interested in how delegates reacted to Petersen's anti-abortion stance. He also felt that Will Coley performed extremely well in the vice presidential debate, and he believed that Coley could bring an extra dimension to the ticket as a Muslim. Overall, Somes felt the Weld pick hurt Johnson's chances with the party's more hardline delegates.
Richard Winger of California was also in attendance as a delegate. He said his preference for the Libertarian ticket was Johnson/Weld. His reasoning was centered on presenting the most politically viable ticket to the American public. The two former governors, he asserted, had the experience voters could trust to actually govern if elected.
Presidential debate
Five candidates participated in the debate, moderated by Larry Elder and televised by CSPAN. Gary Johnson, Daryl W. Perry, Austin Petersen, John McAfee, and Marc Allan Feldman took the stage to try to earn supporters for Sunday morning's election. Introduced and brought on stage one at a time, Johnson and Petersen received the most applause, though each had a significant amount of support.
Much like Weld the night before, Johnson entered as the favorite but could have performed better at the debate. He was loudly booed by attendees on multiple occasions. The first round came when he said that the free market bankrupted the coal industry, and he was rebuffed in the next response by Petersen. When asked if the government should be issuing marriage licenses, the former governor made no allies when he said the government should recognize same-sex marriage. Other candidates drew applause from the same question by advocating for the government to get out of the marriage business.
Johnson drew his loudest criticisms of the night near the end of the debate on back-to-back questions. When asked whether he would have voted for or against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his answer of voting for the act drew audible jeers. As the only candidate to propose that people exhibit some type of competency before being allowed to drive, people in the crowd yelled loud obscenities at the 2012 presidential nominee during a question about driver's licenses.
Entering the night with a number of vocal supporters and arguably the second-most popular candidate, Petersen had ground to both gain and lose. While his answers were generally received well, some of his more conservative stances on social issues drew disdain from the audience. Although he indicated he was for the decriminalization of all drugs, those in attendance took offense at his belief that children should be prohibited from buying drugs. The crowd also booed his statement that life begins at conception and that fetuses are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Petersen otherwise performed well in the debate, sticking to the Libertarian principles that the crowd reacted positively to. He also had what was arguably the night's best one-liner, saying, "Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms should be a store, not a government agency." His younger supporter base let out a loud round of applause when he asserted that young people should be able to opt out of social security. Those in attendance also gave their approval when Petersen announced he wanted to appoint Andrew Napolitano to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Perry, who actually garnered more tokens than Petersen earlier in the day, also performed well. He stuck to the core Libertarian principles, and the crowd reacted positively to nearly every one of his answers. Perry moved the room to a standing ovation when he lifted up Portugal as an example of drug policy that works. Given the unique mix within the Libertarian Party of idealists and moderates, it's unclear if his message will resonate across the party.
Feldman, like Perry, maintained the party line with all of his answers. It was hard to tell if he took the debate seriously, however, as many of his answers were in the form of comical one-liners or rhetorical questions. He did garner two standing ovations: once when he suggested that the Constitution was the only license anyone needed and that the government needed to honor it, and another in his closing statement when he roused the room by saying he was "that" Libertarian and rattled off an impressive list of various types of Libertarians. It's unclear, however, if his comical style will be taken seriously by the delegates.
McAfee's debate seemed to mirror his nomination speech from earlier in the afternoon. His answers never elicited boos, but many of them felt unclear or like they missed the point. His closing statement may have salvaged his debate, with his calls for an end to compromise and a return to grassroots being well-received by the room. But this performance, combined with his admission earlier in the day that he didn't see himself winning the election if nominated by the party, could very well leave him out in the cold once the party ticket is announced.
Predicting a Libertarian ticket
Johnson has been the front-runner all along. Heading into tomorrow, it remains to be seen whether his debate performance and the responses generated by Petersen will allow the young challenger the opportunity to gain ground on the former New Mexico governor. The other three candidates performed well but probably lack the broader support across multiple fronts of the party to win the nomination.
A Johnson/Weld ticket seems like the most likely outcome, given their status heading into the convention. Sharpe, however, could end up as Johnson's running mate given his performance at Friday's debate. If delegates reject Johnson and choose Petersen as the presidential nominee, Weld would likely be equally rejected in favor of Sharpe. Coley would also benefit from a Petersen ticket, as his energy and experience in foreign activism might resonate with a delegation that chooses Petersen. Perry/Coley could be considered as a dark horse ticket, but wouldn't be without merit. Each has the energy and passion to rally supporters, and each adheres to a more pure form of Libertarianism that seems to resonate at this convention.
What's up next?
On Sunday morning, delegates will elect a presidential and vice presidential nominee. Because they are each selected by the delegates, an unanticipated pairing of candidates could occur. The national party chair will be elected later that afternoon. Stay tuned to Ballotpedia for coverage of these events and the rest of the 2016 election cycle.
See also
- Libertarian National Convention, 2016
- Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2016
- Austin Petersen
- John McAfee
- Marc Allan Feldman
- Kevin McCormick
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Presidential election, 2016/Polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
- Presidential election, 2016/Straw polls
- ↑ Tokens are another name for the secret ballots cast by delegates at the convention. Once submissions are closed, the votes are counted and reported by the secretary.
