The 2016 V.P. candidate is issuing endorsements, raising money, talking about what the party needs to win the White House, and tacking in a more Libertarian direction. But will he take the plunge?Matt Welch|May. 2, 2018 1:36 pm
If you had asked most members of the Libertarian Party on
election night 2016 whether vice presidential candidate Bill Weld would be central to the L.P.'s efforts in 2020, you may well have been held in violation of the
Non-Aggression Principle.
The former two-term governor of Massachusetts had just wrapped up a tumultuous first six months as member of the party, from a
hotly contested V.P. nomination to
unprecedented media penetration to
persistent speculation that he might drop out, all culminating with an unforgivable-for-some six-word sentence on
The Rachel Maddow Show one week before the election: "
I'm here vouching for Mrs. Clinton." Even those who were charitable toward Weld's late-breaking behavior—and there
weren't many—reckoned that he'd parlay his
successful/disappointing Libertarian half-year into some new centristy
John Kasich/John Hickenlooper action. That is, if the well-heeled lawyer bothered with politics at all.
They were wrong. After announcing last November that "
I'm going to stay L.P." and declaring the party "perfectly positioned to fill what's a growing need in the country," Weld is now openly laying the groundwork for a 2020 presidential campaign. The only question is whether he'll be the one running.
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Originally Posted by Swordsmyth
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