Libertarian candidate reaches out to millennials in the hopes of becoming the next president

Unfavorability between the two primary parties has led some voters to seek out additional options for this election season, and the strong dislike for the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump campaigns have opened up a spot for third-party candidates to enter the political arena.

A prominent third-party candidate, Gary Johnson and his running mate William Weld from the Libertarian Party, visited FIU on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center in the hopes of capturing the attention of an audience full of potential voters.

“Is this the craziest election cycle ever?” Johnson asked the audience. “You know how crazy it is? I’m going to be the next president.”

The former governors came to Miami to persuade potential voters after being officially nominated as the Libertarian presidential ticket in Orlando months before. One of the reasons for selecting FIU to host their town hall was to appeal to the millennial voters.

“The millennials are a larger population group than the baby boomers, which is very significant,” said Johnson. “Very significant also is that we are leading in the demographic [from] 18 to 24, and we are in second place [in the demographic from] 18 to 34. So there is a lot of room for movement given that no one knows who we are.”

The Libertarian Party expects to be on the ballot in all 50 states, and Johnson along with Weld, need 15 percent in order to get into the presidential debates, which is almost necessary to win an election. Johnson and Weld both believe that they have a strong chance at reaching this figure.

According to a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, the presence of a third-party candidate would impact the elections in an unpredictable way.

It explains that the Republican and Democrat nominees have some of the worst favorability ratings since 1992, with 55 percent of voters in the survey holding a negative view of Clinton, and a 60 percent negative view of Trump. The favorability for Johnson from the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein from the Green Party drew backing from 16 percent out of the 1,000 individuals surveyed.

Johnson and Weld both took this visit as an opportunity to share their ideas and platforms with the students at FIU, millennials, and the overall population of Miami, Florida.

After being asked about Hispanic voters in the 2016 elections, the former Gov. of New Mexico, Johnson explained why he doesn’t specifically target Hispanics for the purpose of gaining more votes and support for his party.

“In New Mexico, it has the highest percentage Hispanic population of any of the 50 states. That is 48 percent. Something that I am always asked is what did you do to attract the Hispanic vote in New Mexico? Nothing,” said Johnson. “What we say is the same regardless of the audience. Equality for all. This is not about granting one or trying to pander. I think politicians do that, [and] we don’t do that.”

Johnson and Weld both believe that immigration is a necessary aspect to the country’s economic state, and further develops jobs in the nation.

“Believing that first and foremost that immigration is really a good thing. We are a country of immigrants,” said Johnson as he explained his platform. “The fact that they came here illegally is because they can’t get here legally. The jobs exist so they have to cross illegally to take care of their families. Just like you or I would be doing in the same situation.”

Johnson and Weld would like to make it an easier process to obtain work visas, while still requiring a background check and a social security card. They believe that an increase in immigration will be better for the United States’ economy all around.

Other platforms Johnson discussed is education and the war on drugs; the governor would like to get rid of the Department of Education and Common Core, decriminalize and legalize marijuana.

Senior student Dan Blanco, majoring in international relations and one of the Libertarian attendees at the governor’s town hall discussion, responded to the governor’s speech at the rally.

“Although Gary isn’t the ideal Libertarian, he holds the idea that we need to allow people to make choices, even if we might personally disagree with those choices and as long as they don’t harm others,” said Blanco. “The more we grow this movement, the sooner we can oust the outdated two-part system.”

Even though Johnson hasn’t reached the 15 percent threshold in the polls to make it into the national debates, he isn’t that far behind. Johnson is working toward his goal by focusing on appealing to voters that might differ from this year’s primary party candidates.

“I genuinely believe that most people are Libertarian, they just don’t know it, and very broadly speaking people believe ‘Get government out of my pocketbook, get government out of my bedroom,’” said Johnson. “Fiscally conservative, socially accepting, tolerant, accommodating [is] something that Republicans have lost.”

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