But the Rosen Centre Hotel, which is slowly being occupied by Libertarian delegates, might contain the nation's largest population of Johnson/Weld skeptics.

At a hastily scheduled Thursday night debate, before most delegates showed up, Johnson and Weld defended their records against candidates running as more purely libertarian. (None of them have, like Weld, felt compelled to release multiple statements explaining their old Second Amendment stances.) Austin Petersen, the 35-year-old, media-savvy activist who has become Johnson's readiest critic, was seen to have scored a point on the selection of Weld.

AD

AD

"In 2008, your vice presidential pick endorsed Barack Obama," Petersen said of Johnson and Weld. "In 2012, he didn't endorse Ron Paul; he didn't endorse you. He endorsed Mitt Romney. In 2016, he endorsed John Kasich. Why didn't your VP pick endorse you?"

Johnson did himself no favors with the answer. "First of all, beyond my wildest dreams, I asked Bill Weld to join me," he said. "You realize that we're running separately. But he's the original libertarian —"

The rest of that statement was drowned out by laughter.

According to Tom Knapp, the founder of Independent Political Report and a delegate to the convention, the room was stacked with more radical Libertarians, more inclined to back a fellow traveler than a compromise candidate. A straw poll taken afterward found just 35 percent of attendees backing Johnson, and more than 20 percent each for Petersen and the radical candidate Darryl Perry.

AD

AD

"I'm not saying that's representative of the whole convention," said Knapp. "But if Gary doesn't win on the first ballot, he doesn't win."

On Friday morning, Perry was working over delegates at his booth, telling them that he was at least the second choice of every candidate. Petersen and Johnson were doing media interviews.