THIS WAS THE scene that presented itself to Libertarian party members in the US at yesterday’s party convention in Orlando, Florida.
A nominee for chairman of the party used his stage time to strip-off in front of fellow-party members before he dropped out of the race.
The man, named as James Weeks by NBC News, is a self-described “liberty activist” from Michigan.
He was supporting the vice-presidential campaign of Derrick Grayson before deciding the convention “could use a little bit of fun” and stripping off.
Political news website The Hill reported that other members of the party complained about Weeks’ performance, with some members calling for his membership to be revoked.
On his website, Weeks describes himself as:
Dedicated his life to achieving a free society, free from an omnipotent state that seems to wish to squeeze every last drop of freedom out of our lives.
Presidential nominee
At the conference, the Libertarian Party again nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate, believing he can challenge presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton because of their poor showing in popularity polls.
Johnson (63) won the nomination on the second ballot, defeating Austin Petersen, the founder of The Libertarian Republic magazine; and anti-computer virus company founder John McAfee.
The delegates selected former Massachusetts Governor William Weld to be his vice presidential running mate.
Johnson, the party’s nominee in 2012, told the delegates during his acceptance speech that his job will be to get the Libertarian platform before the voters at a level the party has not seen.
“I am fiscally conservative in spades and I am socially liberal in spades,” Johnson told The Associated Press.
I would cut back on military interventions that have the unintended consequence of making us less safe in the world.
Johnson served as New Mexico’s governor from 1995 to 2003 as a Republican after a career as the owner of one of that state’s largest construction companies.
After failing to gain traction in the GOP’s 2012 primaries, he changed his registration to Libertarian shortly before running for that party’s nomination that year.
He won the nomination and got just short of 1% of the general election vote against President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.
Serious run
For Johnson to make a serious run this year, he needs to qualify for the presidential debates. To do that, he must average 15 percent in five recognised polls.
He hopes that is doable because Trump and Clinton are both seen unfavourably by a majority of voters, according to recent polls.
Johnson will also need to overcome a huge financial disadvantage and history.
The Libertarian Party has been running presidential tickets since 1972, but has never been a major factor.
The party’s best showing was 1980, when candidate Ed Clark got slightly more than 1 percent of the vote.
The only electoral vote the party has received was in 1972, when a renegade Virginia elector pledged to President Richard Nixon cast his ballot for Libertarian John Hospers instead.
Third parties have never won a U.S. presidential election. Former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt, running on the Bull Moose Party ticket, got 27 percent of the popular vote and 88 electoral votes in 1912. He finished second to Democrat Woodrow Wilson, the only time a third party candidate has finished that well.
Other notable third-party runs include former Alabama Governor George Wallace, who got 13 percent of the popular vote in 1968, winning 45 electoral votes; and billionaire businessman Ross Perot, who got 19 percent of the popular vote in 1992 but no electoral votes.
-With reporting from AP
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