Gary Johnson runs most successful Libertarian campaign in party’s history
By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 5 hrs ago

Gary Johnson is the first Libertarian to get more than 1 million votes. (GaryJohnson2012)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.

I'm glad I voted for him, though unfortunately despite the increase in their vote I think it's still tilting at windmills.

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

I voted for him as well.

What I have been noticing though talking with people is a growing sense of frustration at the two ruling parties and the patsy's who cheer for them. More people I talked to in this Presidential election than in any I can remember in the past have told me they voted for Gary Johnson.

Maybe this is the begging of a trend? They can't ignore a 3rd party forever if it keeps gaining votes.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

True, but I'd rather tilt at a windmill I believe in than suck at the teat of banality and bull***t.

Amen. Another L voter here.

I actually got no argument, and some agreement, when I asked the following question to the D and R types at work today -

"What really changed in the election yesterday?" My explanation to them -

Same president.

Same Congress.

Neither of which has done a damn thing the past two years, much less pass a budget.

And neither likely to do anything for the next two years at least.

Same fiscal cliff, national debt, federal spending, and other problems we had last week - and again, nothing likely to done this time either.

So for all the hundreds of millions of dollars spent and angry words exchanged, just what did this election accomplish, as far as the D's and R's are concerned?

ZIP POINT SHYTE

__________________
Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

There is a tension between idealism and pragmatism. I doubt that anybody but historians can accurately determine their respective virtues.

Accepting that as a given, I prefer to err on the side of idealism.

Bring me Giants! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLzCHCk_Jh0

Been pushing the "L" button for quite awhile.

The problem I see is there are too many MO-Bigger-Welfare types in the states with large electoral votes. They want the govt to take care of them. That mind-set is growing and will likely continue to do so.

I'm ready for the Libertian Party to move up and whittle down the behemoth US Govt.

Yeah....I'm dreamin'.

__________________
Mike Murrell
1991 300-SEL - Model 126
M103 - SOHC
"Fräulein"

Dreamers can change the world...sometimes.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Without dreamers the world never changes.

I voted for Johnson.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

If you are in a state which is solid blue or red then there is no down side to voting your ideals. I live in FL so my vote counted more than say someone in NY. I have to laugh at those who think Obama has a mandate with this win- He won FL by 45K and Ohio by 107K. If those were reversed then there is no Obama win and the HOR votes to see who is POTUS.

Baby steps, gotta start somewhere. Given the anecdotal voting here on this forum, he seems to have struck a chord with a decent percentage.

It's damn near impossible to compete against federal funding, nationally televised debates, guaranteed placement on the ballot and facetime whenever desired.

I suspect the GOP and Democratic Party are just fine with that and why it'll take a long time to build up any momentum.

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

The main prize is winner-takes-all laws for the electoral college in most states. That is an insurmountable wall preventing other parties from having a meaningful effect.

If the electoral college were apportioned by congressional district that would shift us slightly toward a pluralistic representative system. Not quite parliamentary but not the calcified madness we now endure.

Of course. But until a third (or fourth, etc.) party can garner the necessary support where enough pressure builds to start chipping away at that electoral college wall (with the same access but undoubtedly not the same funding as the two bloated animal parties), it'll remain the status quo.

Uphill battle would be an understatement.

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Absolutely. Heck, I vote third party almost every election cycle, this one being no different.
Except for Ross Perot... just couldn't pull the trigger on that one... But Nader, voted for him... twice... didn't really agree with him or his message, just liked casting a vote which does not feed the two party monster we have today.

Somehow, I like to dream that the third party as a viable alternative will happen in a flash.
Mittens probably could have done it this cycle, but he would have had to spend his own money.
Maybe Bill Gates will decide to back a Libertarian or a Green, and bankroll them with the big boys.
All it will take is - One Billion Dollars -

__________________
On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif