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View Full Version : Gary Johnson runs most successful Libertarian campaign in party’s history




donnay
11-07-2012, 04:29 PM
Gary Johnson runs most successful Libertarian campaign in party’s history

By Eric Pfeiffer (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/gary-johnson-ran-most-successful-libertarian-campaign-party-193500973--politics.html)

He may have received only about 1 percent of the national vote, but Gary Johnson is already the most successful White House candidate in the Libertarian Party's nearly 41-year history.

"Ours is a mission accomplished," Johnson told FoxNews.com. "We put a true small-government, individual-freedom option on the ballot in virtually every state and have assembled an organization that will carry that message forward."

With final vote tallies still being calculated, Johnson's current total of 1,139,562 puts him significantly ahead of any of his party's nine other presidential candidates.

Interestingly, the only other Libertarian Party candidate to receive more than 1 million votes was Georgia Public Service Commission candidate John Monds, who received 1,076,726 votes, or 33.4 percent of the vote, during his 2008 campaign.

The most successful third-party candidate runs have historically been done by independents, most famously by Ross Perot in 1992 (19,743,821 votes, 18.91 percent) and John Anderson in 1980 (5,719,850 votes, 6.61 percent).

1980 was also a good year for Libertarian candidate Ed Clark, whose 921,128 votes and 1.06 percent share of the total vote was the most successful performance by a presidential candidate in his party until Tuesday night.

Still, the Libertarians' first-ever presidential candidate, John G. Hospers, is their most successful candidate by a different measurement. Though he received only 3,674 total votes, he's still the only Libertarian Party presidential candidate to win an Electoral College vote.

Most candidates from the Libertarian Party, which was founded in December 1971, have typically garnered about 500,000 votes in their respective runs.

Johnson said he's buoyed by the results and plans to maintain his role as an advocate for limited government policies. However, when asked, he was unwilling to say whether his historic performance was enough to guarantee another run in 2016.

"It's too soon to be talking about 2016," he said.

sailingaway
11-07-2012, 04:49 PM
Congratulations to the LP.

GeorgiaAvenger
11-07-2012, 04:54 PM
I'd like for them to disband on a high note, preferably their results in this election.

We have actually had "Libertarians" make the races close in areas where we are actually trying to get liberty minded Republicans elected. You know, actual progress, not whining.

donnay
11-07-2012, 05:01 PM
I'd like for them to disband on a high note, preferably their results in this election.

We have actually had "Libertarians" make the races close in areas where we are actually trying to get liberty minded Republicans elected. You know, actual progress, not whining.


Wake up! Wake up! There is no two party system--it's all an illusion!!! I applaud the Libertarian rabble-rousers! I want to see a third party emerge so people can get out of their trances.

/end rant

Elwar
11-07-2012, 05:02 PM
Good on him. He started back in 2010 with the Republican primary and made it all the way here. That takes a lot of effort.

itshappening
11-07-2012, 05:03 PM
They need a pact to not stand against liberty Republicans like Amash, Kerry etc otherwise we're going to lose some close race because of them

They should also not run against Rand if he made it through to the general election or put him on their line

BSU kid
11-07-2012, 05:04 PM
I kinda shook my head when I saw LP party members running against our Liberty candidates like Bentivolio for instance...it could have cost them the race. Then again I voted for Andrew Horning for Senate here in Indiana, I felt really good about myself afterwords.

phill4paul
11-07-2012, 05:07 PM
I'd like for them to disband on a high note, preferably their results in this election.

We have actually had "Libertarians" make the races close in areas where we are actually trying to get liberty minded Republicans elected. You know, actual progress, not whining.

disband and move where exactly? Into the GOP? Perhaps they will perhaps they won't. Many did EXACTLY that for Ron Paul. And what did they get for it. I thing they will just hold their own. If the GOP can find another like Ron then perhaps they will try to get under the Big Tent they were ejected from. We will see.

itshappening
11-07-2012, 05:09 PM
we need an electoral pact of some sort.

is there ANY line of communication with them? are they open to not running candidates in certain situations?

Tpoints
11-07-2012, 05:10 PM
That's pretty much going to happen every election, better and better, until Republicans get a more competent alternative.

dillo
11-07-2012, 05:15 PM
Isnt TR the most successfull 3rd party candidate?

2young2vote
11-07-2012, 05:20 PM
And if you look at congressional races in some states, like here in Michigan, every single libertarian candidate got atleast 1% of the vote. In a several cases they actually got over 3%. Looking at other states it seems like they did pretty well overall compared to what they usually get.

Shane Harris
11-07-2012, 05:27 PM
I agree they shouldn't run against Rand. But by all means run against neoconservatives. Gary should run for Senate.

emazur
11-07-2012, 06:37 PM
I wrote up something on reddit for those interested:

2012 Gary Johnson's top 3 states: New Mexico: 3.5%, Montana: 2.9%, Alaska: 2.5%. 2008 Bob Barr's top state: Indiana: 1.06% (self.Libertarian)

Furthermore, Gary Johnson more than doubled the amount of Libertarian Party presidential votes from 2008.

2012: 1,139,562 votes, 1% 2008: 523,713 votes, 0.399%

Highest percentage for LP was 1.06% (921,128 votes) by Ed Clark in 1980, whose campaign by largely self-funded, but Gary Johnson has pulled the most votes in raw numbers of any Libertarian presidential candidate

Just thought having all this info wrapped into one little package would be helpful for fellow Libertarians who don't find much election coverage in the media.

Sources: http://www.google.com/elections/ed/us/results

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008

http://www.lp.org/blogs/staff/1139562-votes-for-gov-gary-johnson-record-setting-libertarian-party-presidential-vote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Clark

http://reason.com/blog/2012/11/07/gary-johnson-pulls-one-million-votes-one

Brian4Liberty
11-07-2012, 08:06 PM
Let's not get too crazy with this praise. Gary was a place-holder (albeit better than Barr/Root). Ron Paul brought the votes.

nobody's_hero
11-07-2012, 08:13 PM
I'd like for them to disband on a high note, preferably their results in this election.

We have actually had "Libertarians" make the races close in areas where we are actually trying to get liberty minded Republicans elected. You know, actual progress, not whining.

I haven't seen a close race in Georgia for the past 3 elections. It may be possible elsewhere around the country, but this assumes that most libertarians are republican-leaning, and would just automatically vote republican if there is no libertarian in the race. I think the LP is starting to pull from the left and the right. Heck, Jesse Ventura and Gary Johnson gave a speech together a few weeks prior to this election.

Maybe we need to audit the LP and find out which side its members are coming from, lol.


I agree they shouldn't run against Rand. But by all means run against neoconservatives. Gary should run for Senate.

I could go for that.

SpiritOf1776_J4
11-07-2012, 09:11 PM
That doesn't read good to me, because if that was the most successful run the Libertarian party has had in 40 years, Perot did 10 times better than that, running the first time.

Rudeman
11-07-2012, 11:29 PM
That doesn't read good to me, because if that was the most successful run the Libertarian party has had in 40 years, Perot did 10 times better than that, running the first time.

Perot has a lot of money.

alucard13mmfmj
11-08-2012, 12:19 AM
I'd be upset if libertarians didn't semi-throw their weight behind rand or a 4th ron paul run in 2016 lol. Either is the closest libertarian-like candidate we may get that has a snowball's chance in hell of maybe winning. Them winning as GOP ticket would propel libertarianism and maybe, indirectly, the libertarian party to be larger players in the political game.

heavenlyboy34
11-08-2012, 12:22 AM
Wake up! Wake up! There is no two party system--it's all an illusion!!! I applaud the Libertarian rabble-rousers! I want to see a third party emerge so people can get out of their trances.

/end rant
Thread winner.