The Libertarian Party

Recently, a certain person became the presumptive nominee of the Grand Old Party, or the Republican Party. This man is of course Donald Trump. His incendiary comments about women, Democrats, Republicans, poor people, politicians, Washington DC, the disabled, the press, Muslims, Hispanics, the Chinese, African Americans, prisoners of war, Iowans, liberals, and others have driven wedges between his own "Silent Majority" and the GOP establishment. Despite being continually attacked by all newspapers, radio shows, and television programs as well as demonized by nearly every single Republican official and almost every single Democrat, he has managed to eke out a win from what was originally 17 Republican candidates.

 

With a long list of GOP officials not backing Trump (among these are Speaker of House Paul Ryan, 2012 GOP candidate Mitt Romney, 2016 candidate Jeb Bush, 41st president George H.W. Bush, Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham, 2008 candidate John McCain, Senator from Nebraska Ben Sasse, Former Texas Representative Ron Paul, conservative radio host Glenn Beck, and dozens of GOP strategists and conservative pundits), many are turning to the alternatives. With Clinton as an avowed no from many conservatives, evangelicals, constitutionalists, and fiscal conservatives, these voters have arrived at the largest third party in the United States, the Libertarian Party.

 

The Libertarian Party was formed in 1971 by eight activists who wanted maximum personal freedom and limited government in all sectors. By 1980, they had ballot access to all 50 states and Washington D.C. Since the 2004 election, they have been the largest third party in the United States and won over a million votes in the 2012 election. In a hypothetical matchup of the 2016 election, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party currently polls around 11 percent.

Their Platform

Social

The largest emphasis of the Libertarian Party is on personal freedoms and against the idea of a larger government. They support the constitution to the letter and oppose all forms of government censorship. Their support for personal liberty is completely hands off with their advocacy of the complete legalization of drugs, gambling, and prostitution. Additionally all restrictions on marriages and gay rights ought  to be taken down. One of their largest points for 2016 is the legalization of marijuana and the complete takedown of the NSA and the end of all domestic surveillance programs that infringe on the rights of Americans. As for the War on Drugs, the Libertarian Party has largely found this to be a failed policy that has only put thousands of Americans in jail and caused unjust suffering to hundreds of thousands in Latin America.

"I want gay people to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns." -Tim Moen, Canadian Libertarian Party 

Economics

The Libertarian Party supports the FairTax which involves the complete removal of all federal taxes such as the income tax, corporate income tax, payroll tax, capital gains tax, gift tax, and estate tax in favor of one sweeping consumption tax. Rebates would be given back for all purchases up to the poverty level with the IRS being abolished and control being largely given to the states. The party considers all controls on prices and wages as well as government seizure of land as unconstitutional and against the right to own property. Additionally proposals include removing all subsidies, moving the government out of social security planning, moving government out of education, and opening up health care to the free market.

Foreign Affairs

The third leg of the Libertarian Party is their non-interventionist, self-defense oriented foreign policy. Libertarians believe that American interventionism and militarism has led to more terrorism and instability than it has supported. They believe that the United States intelligence agencies must have more transparency and oversight in their actions. Libertarians wish to cut military spending, military aid, subsidies to US arms companies, and promote peace with the world. They also support removing all restrictions on freedom of trade and immigration (except in the cases of clear and recorded national security threat).

As the 2016 election draws closer, the presumptive Libertarian Nominee, former Govenor Gary Johnson (unless he is upset by Austin Petersen) will have to make a large case to Republicans who have vowed to never support Trump. If he is able to do so, the Libertarians stand a good chance of picking up many of the remains of the once proud GOP.

Works Cited

Cillizza, Chris. "Donald Trump Likes to Talk about the ‘silent Majority.’ For Many, That Has Racial Overtones." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2015. Web. 06 May 2016.

A Donald Trump Candidacy Still Doesn't Bother Me Because Things Can Always Be Much Worse | RedState. 2016. RedState. Web. 06 May 2016.

French, David. "Is the Libertarian Party's Gary Johnson a Plausible Alternative to Trump and Clinton?" National Review Online. National Review, Inc., 5 May 2015. Web. 06 May 2016.

Gary Johnson Enters 2016 Presidential Race. N.d. The Libertarian Republic. Web. 06 May 2016.

Gillespie, Nick. ""I Want Gay People to Be Able to Protect Their Marijuana Plants with Guns."" Reason.com. Reason Foundation, 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 6 May 2016.

Gorman, Michele. "These Republicans Say They Won't Vote for Donald Trump in Election." Newsweek. Newsweek LLC, 06 May 2015. Web. 06 May 2016.

Libertarian Party. N.d. Web.

Miller, Joe. "Unspinning the FairTax." FactCheckorg. Annenberg Public Policy Center, 31 May 2007. Web. 06 May 2016.

O'Reilly, William F.B. "This Year Could Be Different for Libertarian Gary Johnson." Newsday. Gordon McLeod, 1 May 2016. Web. 06 May 2016.

"Our History." Libertarian Party. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

"Platform." Libertarian Party. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2016.

Staff, MSNBC. "Meet the Republicans Speaking out against Trump." Msnbc.com. NBC News Digital, 06 May 2016. Web. 06 May 2016.