Not a fan of either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? There are actually two other candidates running for president in 2016: Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.



Johnson, who ran for president as a Libertarian in 2012 as well, did a town hall on CNN Wednesday night in which he took questions from voters and discussed his alternative plan for the country. Johnson is fiscally conservative, but more liberal on social issues. He summed up his position simply in saying: “We want the government out of your pocketbook and out of your bedroom.”

Johnson said that his biggest goal right now is to get an invitation to the presidential debates with Clinton and Trump, which begin on Sept. 26. He’ll need to earn at least an average of 15 percent of the vote in five national polls in order to get there. A recent Fox News poll put him near the mark at 12 percent, but that poll did not include Stein. RealClearPolitics shows Johnson’s polling average is about 7 percent with Stein included.

Looking at the possibility that Gary Johnson, the Libertarian, could swing the election. https://t.co/uQeHedV2am pic.twitter.com/Tod0K56MV6 — The Upshot (@UpshotNYT) August 4, 2016

Johnson, and his running mate William Weld, laid out an optimistic vision for the country on Wednesday night. “I don’t think life in America has ever been better,” Johnson said. “I mean, we get along better, we communicate better, our kids are smarter than ever. … [America] is great. Never been better, and that isn’t to say that we don’t have issues, but we should be dealing with those issues.”

Here’s a look at Johnson’s views on policy and the two main party presidential candidates. You can see in-depth how Johnson would act on the issues you care about most here.

So, why does Johnson think you should vote for him?

“To me, the real reason might be that we’re decent people, we are both inclusive to the tips of our toes, great big, open, loving, if you will, society. And we know that this country has always been a melting pot. We know that’s the strength – the sinew of this country and we want to keep it that way,” he said.

Some background

Johnson, 63, was the governor of New Mexico from 1995-2003. He grew up in the state and worked as a handyman while attending the University of New Mexico, before starting his own construction business. He first ran for political office in 1994 and won that race for governor as well as a second term.

At the time, Johnson was a Republican, but his views did skew Libertarian. He promoted himself as a fiscal conservative who supported the legalization of marijuana, private prisons, and concealed carry laws in order to reduce crime. He became known in the state as “Governor Veto” for the number of bills that he vetoed during his first term.

Johnson supported former Rep. Ron Paul’s (R-TX) 2008 presidential campaign before launching his own bid for the White House in 2012. Johnson briefly ran for president that year as a Republican as well, but switched the Libertarian Party in late 2011 when it became clear that he wasn’t gaining traction in the Republican primary race.

Gary Johnson isn’t a good Republican OR a good libertarian… pic.twitter.com/Lqb8cpg2nR — Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) August 3, 2016

Running mate

Johnson’s vice presidential running mate is former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. Like Johnson, Weld was twice elected governor of a liberal-leaning state, and ran as both a Libertarian and a Republican. Weld, 71, also has a legal background and worked in the Justice Department under Ronald Reagan.

Johnson has said that if elected their relationship will be unique in American politics: He and Weld plan to run the White House together, as partners, rather than in the traditional presidential-vice presidential roles.

Bipartisanship

“I think it might be refreshing to have a party that was not terribly partisan holding the White House. We would hire the best people from the Democratic Party that we could find, the smartest people from the Republican party that we could find, the best people in the Libertarian party. Our proposals out of the White House would not say take that you stupid ‘D’ party, or you stupid ‘R’ party. … The recipients of that information would not feel attacked, so they might be more likely to come to the table because they wouldn’t feel like they were going to be made fools of.” — Gary Johnson.

On Clinton

Johnson accused Clinton and her husband of participating in “pay-to-play” schemes, highlighting the speaking fees each has received from corporations and advocacy groups that have received federal funds. In a word, Johnson described Clinton as “beholden.” He went on to criticize her plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans, calling it a “trillion dollar tax hike.”

“I cut taxes 21 times, Gary cut taxes 14 times.” -Bill Weld #LibTownHall — Gary Johnson 2016 (@Libertarian_U) August 4, 2016

Weld, as a former prosecutor, also said that he agreed with the FBI’s conclusion that Clinton should not be charged over email scandal.

On Trump

Weld described Trump as having a “screw loose,” while Johnson focused largely on Trump’s immigration rhetoric. “We’re a country of immigrants. We should be embracing immigration,” he said.

Johnson was also critical of Trump on trade, arguing that the GOP nominee can’t say he’s in favor free trade while also saying he’ll force Apple to make their products in the U.S. instead of China. Trump also favors implementing “a 35 percent tariff on imported goods, well, who pays for that?” Johnson asked.

“Perhaps we do encompass the best of what Republicans are supposed to be about, which is smaller government and they don’t do a very good job at that,” Johnson said of the Libertarian ticket.

If Gary Johnson was an actual libertarian, I’d consider supporting him. https://t.co/BifxEVaIRq — David French (@DavidAFrench) August 1, 2016

On Sanders

Johnson said Wednesday that he and Sen. Bernie Sanders agree on “about 75 percent” of the issues, including drug policy, same-sex marriage and foreign policy. But he warned Sanders supporters that while he supports “equal opportunity,” he does not believe that “income equality” is possible. Johnson said that he favors leveling the playing field, but not taking from the already wealthy.

ON THE ISSUES

Term limits

Johnson argued in favor of term limits, saying that they will free up politicians to do the right thing, rather than try to protect their careers.

People are hungry to vote FOR someone as opposed to voting against someone else.#teamgov #election2016 pic.twitter.com/s98fcWrjgk — Gov. Gary Johnson (@GovGaryJohnson) July 31, 2016

Foreign policy/Terrorism

Broadly speaking, Johnson argued that he isn’t an isolationist, but a “non-interventionist.” He called for the U.S. to immediately get out of Afghanistan, arguing that while the consequences for the region may be difficult, the country cannot “just stay there forever.”

He and Weld both said that the attacks by lone wolves (such as in Orlando and Nice) are going to keep happening, but suggested that an FBI task force could go a long way into rooting out those individuals before they cause harm. In terms of combatting ISIS, Weld said that he favors drone strikes.

Gun control

Johnson believes in the Second Amendment and has rejected any attempts to outlaw certain types of semi-automatic weapons or AR-15 rifles. If the U.S. did try to outlaw them, he argued Wednesday, “I think you’d have maybe half of those rifles turned in, and the other half would be 15 million of those rifles would be owned by law abiding citizens that are now going to become criminals. I just – I think it’s a misunderstood issue.”

Gary Johnson says what no major party candidate would dare say: terrorist attacks are going to happen and can’t all be stopped. — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 4, 2016

LGBT rights

Johnson is a supporter of marriage and civil rights for LGBT individuals, although he also favors separating the federal government from marriage in general. He has argued against religious freedom laws that allow businesses to discriminate against the LGBT community. However, he opposes passing additional anti-discrimination laws, arguing that those practices are already illegal under current law.

Drug policy

Johnson has been highly critical of the “War on Drugs” and has called for the legalization of marijuana. He said Wednesday that he favors declassifying the drug as a narcotic, but called for additional research on marijuana before moving toward federal regulation of the drug.

Trump thinks he’s sacrificed a lot to run but Gary Johnson hasn’t smoked pot since winter. — LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) August 4, 2016

Health care

Johnson strongly opposes federally mandated health care of any kind. He has warned in the past that the Affordable Care Act will destroy the U.S. economy.

Education

Johnson has called for the elimination of the Department of Education and believes that education policy should be left up to the states.

Abortion/Reproductive issues

Johnson supports abortion rights for women “up until viability of the fetus,” but opposes federal funding for abortions. Similarly, he supports stem cell research, but says that the federal government should not fund it.

Prostitution

Johnson was asked specifically about his views on victimless crimes, like prostitution, which he has said is safer when made legal. Johnson said the issue of whether to legalize prostitution should be left to the states, however.

— Sarah Mimms



Photo by Gage Skidmore/Flcikr