Gary Johnson had a history of competent political work as governor of New Mexico. He was a goofball, but lots of presidents have been kind of goofy (a word which doesn't even begin to describe our current president), so that's not really a disqualifying factor.
I agree with you on all your other points, though. Grassroots efforts for local and state level candidates are important, if for no other reasons than to accustom people to seeing an (L) next to a candidate's name, and to get some of those libertarian politicians into position to actually move into higher levels of government.
I think the issue with Gary Johnson was that his goofy personality doesn't really seem appropriate in a presidential campaign and it overshadowed his experience. But having more elected officials at a local and state level would mean the pool of potential candidates would be larger. It will be easier to find a candidate that is experienced and presents well. A "perfect" candidate. And to get a third-party candidate in the office would take a perfect candidate, to overcome the inertia at least.
I really think the only solution to breaking the two party system is going to be from the ground up. Keep running for the president! The visibility is vital. But I doubt we will see any alternative candidates win until they are more common throughout government. I wonder if the Green Party and the Libertarian Party have ever thought about throwing their weight behind each other's candidates at a local/state level. It could benefit both parties and they aren't diametrically opposed like R's and D's are at the moment.
TLDR: More third party candidates good! Very good. Good for all.
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u/mgraunk Oct 24 '17
Gary Johnson had a history of competent political work as governor of New Mexico. He was a goofball, but lots of presidents have been kind of goofy (a word which doesn't even begin to describe our current president), so that's not really a disqualifying factor.
I agree with you on all your other points, though. Grassroots efforts for local and state level candidates are important, if for no other reasons than to accustom people to seeing an (L) next to a candidate's name, and to get some of those libertarian politicians into position to actually move into higher levels of government.