By Michael Sol Warren

BU News Service

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld is feeling pretty good about the Libertarian Party’s chances this election. Weld, the vice-presidential pick of Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson, spoke with BU News Service at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia about the ticket’s outlook.

BU News Service: How important is Massachusetts to you and Gov. Johnson’s campaign?

BW: Oh that’s a tough one. [Massachusetts] will be a tough one, even though I was governor there. Maine and Vermont would be possibly more fertile ground for a more direct approach. But if we get in the debates and we make our case that we’re socially liberal and fiscally responsible, and so are all of you or so are most you, then we could win anyway. I did win with that in Massachusetts; that’s what I was in 1994 and we got 71 percent of the vote. Now, admittedly, that was a great year to be a Republican. I’ve run in some other years that weren’t so great to be a Republican.

BUNS: The way that last week’s convention unfolded, and the way that this week’s convention is unfolding, how are you and Gov. Johnson feeling about your chances to get above the 15 percent mark?

BW: We think we’re going to get there in the month of August, and we think that’s going to have a tremendous impact on endorsements and fundraising and people will start to say that they’ve got to choose among three. And when they do, once they think that they have to do the calculus or the analysis, I think they’ll come our way. Because I do think the majority of the people in the country are fiscally responsible, they know that the government can’t indefinitely spend more money than it’s taking in, because they have to balance their own checkbooks at the end of every month.

BUNS: One more question. Do you think that you have more success pulling from Republicans who don’t want to vote for Trump or are you looking more towards the Bernie people?

BW: We don’t know. And our message doesn’t change depending on who we’re talking to. Our message is we are who we are.