With the country divided and many voters unhappy with both leading candidates for president, now may be the perfect time for a viable third party. That option could very well be the Libertarian party, led by its presidential nominee Gary Johnson. Johnson is the former Republican governor of New Mexico and has now adopted the Libertarian platform. Many have responded well to this option with some polls showing Johnson above 10 percent. While not enough to even come close to winning the election in November, it is enough to put the party on the map and perhaps gain momentum in years to come.
The recent spike in the interest of the Libertarian party has come since Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton became the nominees of their respective parties. After 8 years of President Obama, as stated before, the country is more divided than ever. Neither Clinton nor Trump, in the eyes of many, will be a President that can unify the people and heal a broken nation plagued with gridlock and stagnation. This is not to say the Libertarian party can be the unifying force, at least not yet. The party has no seats in congress and finds itself in an interesting position in terms of policy considering its platform.
Libertarians have often been described as being the best of both worlds in the political field, sporting socially liberal yet fiscally conservative views. For example, Libertarians are pro-choice and in favor of same sex marriage, while also pro-2nd amendment as well as pro-free market capitalism. The problem facing the Libertarian party though, is the fact that rather than seeking to unify and compromise, Libertarians seem to instead simply be in favor of extremes. Gary Johnson is a moderate Libertarian, and hardcore members of the party despise Johnson and believe that he will not stand for their values.
Personally I believe the Libertarian party can gain the most traction if they target young voters. Many millennials embody Libertarian values, such as legalization of marijuana, marriage equality and fiscal conservatism. After all, no one wants their taxes to be raised, and Libertarians believe that with the right support and direction towards the federal budget, the state tax could be abolished altogether.
Nonetheless the Libertarian party is currently not strong enough to wield as much power as many would like, but their time could be coming. Gary Johnson may not be the candidate to take the party over the top, but he can put them on the map. The country was not founded with the intention of having politicians divide themselves into parties. The Libertarian party could be the unifying force behind a new America in the future. Despite the fact that it may be decades before they gain any real traction and the country is too divided for extreme stances on anything, Libertarians are not to be taken lightly. In fact, their principles could help lead the way as we help fix a broken Washington.
