Unlike during the 2012 election, when I supported Gary Johnson’s Presidential bid, I have not backed him at all during his 2016 run. There are several reasons for my lack of enthusiasm, but the driving concern has been his apparent support for the sovereignty-destroying, corporatist coup masquerading as a free trade deal, the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Until recently, I assumed he must have a thought out reason for supporting the calamitous pact, but following his recent foreign policy gaffes, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s probably just clueless.
This cluelessness seems to extend to his judgment in picking a running-mate, as his VP choice, William Weld, is now publicly embarrassing Johnson by stating he will focus his efforts on defeating Trump as opposed to pushing his own ticket to the voters.
As reported by the Boston Globe:
The Libertarian vice presidential candidate, William F. Weld, said Tuesday that he plans to focus exclusively on blasting Donald Trump over the next five weeks, a strategic pivot aimed at denying Trump the White House and giving himself a key role in helping to rebuild the GOP.
Weld’s comments in a Globe interview mark a major shift in his mission since he pledged at the Libertarian convention in May that he would remain a Libertarian for life and would do all he could to help elect his running mate, Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico.
While Weld insisted he still supports Johnson, he said he is now interested primarily in blocking Trump from winning the presidency and then potentially working with longtime Republican leaders such as Mitt Romney and Haley Barbour to create a new path for the party after the election.
Weld, a former Republican governor of Massachusetts, said he is focusing on Trump because, while he disagrees with Hillary Clinton on fiscal and military issues, Trump’s agenda is so objectionable it’s “in a class by itself.”
He insisted he was not abandoning Johnson, although he signaled that bolting from the Libertarian Party might be a possibility in the future.
“I’m certainly not going to drop them this year,” Weld said.
The guy never has been a libertarian, and isn’t a libertarian now.
Weld’s comments seemed sure to reignite suspicions among Libertarians who have questioned his loyalty to the party and have accused him of using the ticket for his own political aims. But Weld’s decision to chart his own course appears to reflect the feeling among his aides, who have privately expressed dismay at Johnson’s flubs on national television, such as when Johnson could not come up with the name of a favorite foreign leader and when he said “What is Aleppo?” when asked about the besieged Syrian city.
Weld insisted he and Johnson remain “happy warriors” and said Johnson is fully supportive of his anti-Trump campaign.
Weld has been much more critical of Trump than of Clinton, whom he has known since the 1970s, when they were young lawyers working for the House committee that investigated President Richard Nixon.
Just last week, for example, Weld irked Johnson supporters when he said on MSNBC that he’s “not sure anybody is more qualified than Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States.” Weld’s new plan calls for him to focus his fire on Trump in a handful of red states — as well as in at least one swing state, New Hampshire — where the Libertarians are running strong. Nationally, the ticket is drawing about 7 percent support.
This isn’t just about trashing Trump, he is openly advocating for neocon criminal Hillary Clinton. What an epic embarrassment he is.
Polls show that Johnson and Weld — who were initially thought to appeal mostly to anti-Trump Republicans — may be doing more damage to Clinton by siphoning away young voters.
So his solution? Try to help Clinton. I really wish I was making this up.
“That’s obviously a concern,” said Mark Robinson, Weld’s friend, former chief of staff, and colleague at the Boston law firm Mintz Levin. “He certainly doesn’t want to be in that position where Trump could win and people would be blaming him.”
The Libertarian ticket has been a gigantic status quo fraud this entire election, and we now have proof. They were content to run aggressively as long as they thought they were hurting Trump. The moment it became clear that they were “taking” the youth vote from Clinton, Weld sabotaged the whole thing. So here’s the bottom line.
Weld’s comments essentially end Gary Johnson’s run for the Presidency. The only question now is to who do his disgusted supporters turn? My guess is that it will not be Hillary Clinton. Some will go Trump, some will go Stein and many will stay at home.
If you are looking for a real protest vote this November, there’s only one choice left: Jill Stein of the Green Party. She’s the only one going after both Trump and Clinton, and the only one not playing the lesser of two evils game.
If neither Trump or Clinton appear to you, that’s the ticket.
For related articles, see:
Jill Stein of the Green Party – Clinton Helped Create Trump
Donations to Jill Stein’s Campaign Jump 1000% Following the Bernie Betrayal
New Gallup Poll Shows 57% of Americans Want a Major 3rd Party
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger
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“Tuesday” Weld, braying about Trump, will be the equivalent of humming quietly to oneself in the middle of a Category 5 hurricane. Not only will it be drowned out by the roar, but for the few that notice, it will look idiotic.
I worked at the Libertarian HQ years ago and have voted (L) in many elections over the years. With this Dynamic Duo of TPP playboys, I have abandoned them and will not vote (L) on any position at any level. If this is what the Libertarians have become, I want zero to do with them.
thalia menninger…LOL!!
‘Get off your high horse about this tax thing’: ‘Morning Joe’ host slams Clinton response to Trump tax records
“The reaction to this New York Times story on Donald Trump’s part was brilliant,” Brzezinski said. “And the thing is, he didn’t think twice about it. He just went there,
while she has been hiding this speech money, hiding this foundation stuff, hiding this email stuff, and trying to get around it.”
Brzezinski argued that Clinton’s decision to accept money from Wall Street for private speeches was “the same thing”
as Trump potentially avoiding paying federal income taxes after losing over $900 million while his Atlantic City casinos struggled in 1995.
Voters “are not feeling a complete connection with her,” Brzezinski said. “And this doesn’t help to get all high and mighty. Get off your high horse about this tax thing. Unless laws were broken, it’s not an issue. You guys cancel each other out.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/off-high-horse-tax-thing-133055743.html
if i were the author of this article i wouldn’t be embarrassing myself by writing i supported gary johnson ever!
I supported Gary Johnson for the same reason I prefer Jill Stein in this election. Not because I think they’re perfect or would be particularly great Presidents, but because their perspectives far more closely align to mine on the issues I care most about than the leading candidates from the leading two parties.
“If you are looking for a real protest vote this November, there’s only one choice left: Jill Stein of the Green Party.”
Michael, you’re just freaking insane
Why do some people think this is just another election? Why do they refuse to acknowledge the clear difference between Clinton and Trump, and how the entire New World Order establishment machine is against Trump? This is a battle between those who build, vs. those who steal from those who build.
I, too, have been a supporter of Libertarians whenever possible as more often than not, their positions coincided with my own far more than the two-headed simul-party that are the Republicans and Democrats.
However, this cycle has changed all of that. I once respected and supported Gary Johnson but I have done a complete 180 in following he and his campaign throughout this process. Weld is the main reason as well as Johnson’s own goofiness. Gary has not articulated well at all any of what I’ve come to believe Libertarians stand for & I personally believe he’s set the L party back a SIGNIFICANT amount. It will take a lot to undo the damage he’s done in terms of people taking Libertarians seriously.
The Aleppo gaffe, not being able to name a single world leader he admires, his support for the TPP and stating his preference for Hillary over Trump multiple times, his inability to clearly state his platform in any real differentiating way and the lack of clearly pointing out the problems & how he and Weld would address them.
It’s really been a mystery who’s running that campaign but it’s been truly one of the least effective campaigns, even with limited funds/support, that I have ever seen and that has been very disappointing.
Weld’s relationships to Wall Street TBTF banks and his being a part of the Council on Foreign Relations are also HUGE red flags for me & it comes as no surprise that he would concentrate his efforts attacking Trump instead of Hillary. He is a part of the New World Order pushing for one world government and I want no part of that….or he & Gary Johnson.
I’m a long time libertarian and alt media follower. I believe Johnson and Weld are meant to be a double edged sword to both take votes away from Trump and discredit libertarians. They are obviously coopted by the establishment. I feel many ignore the fact that Trump truly seems to be a nationalist as opposed to a globalist and not in with the current power structure. I support him for that fact alone. I’m trying to take a pragmatic approach. If Trump is a Trojan horse main stream media and there proxys have done a terrific job fooling me of there discontent. I don’t give them that much credit.