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He is, at least according to George Will. I'm not Libertarian but I said plenty of times in 2016 that the LP had their ticket backwards and it should have been Weld at the top.
I would not anticipate personally supporting him, although I did vote for him way back when as Governor. But I suppose stranger things have happened.
I think his presence could make a big difference in 2020, and maybe break open the two party system, and he's said he wants to try to attract disaffected voters from both parties to the Libertarian Party.
Although he will likely get called a moderate, I found it interesting that he denies that title and says that he's at two extremes, one on social issues and one on economic issues.
If nothing else, he would certainly make the spectator sport of politics more interesting!
I doubt he will have any more impact than Gary Johnson did...….effectively none.The Libertarians have been trying to 'attract disaffected voters from both parties' for over 45 years,with little success,even on a local level.
If your party can't manage to send a single person to the US House or US Senate or a single Governors Mansion it isn't likely to get anyone into the Whitehouse either.
Bill Weld is a centrist who leans libertarian most of the time. Not much different then Gary Johnson.
I’m a member of the Libertarian Party despite not really being a libertarian. I agree with Johnson and Weld a lot, and there is too much government intrusion in most aspects of business and life. But I still accept the basic forms of welfare, environmental protection, border security, infrastructure, etc. I’m more centrist then Weld, but I think he would governor the country well. He understands the need to compromise to be part of the mainstream political conversation, which is something the anarchist leaning libertarians will never understand.
If Weld could get an endorsement from Romney and Romney runs in the Utah Senate, that would be a pretty big deal. Johnson can help in his native New Mexico as part of the campaign. He just needs to keep his bizarre antics to none. Johnson does terrible interviews, but he’s good at stump speeches and has the energy and money to really help out. Larry Sharpe may be a decent choice for VP.
I always thought Johnson should be running for US senate or House of Representatives in New Mexico.
I doubt he will have any more impact than Gary Johnson did...….effectively none.The Libertarians have been trying to 'attract disaffected voters from both parties' for over 45 years,with little success,even on a local level.
If your party can't manage to send a single person to the US House or US Senate or a single Governors Mansion it isn't likely to get anyone into the Whitehouse either.
In the one election where the Libertarian candidate had a real chance to pick up votes- Johnson ran a horrid campaign. He never appeared prepared, he did not present a coherent message and in the end that showed.
I think Weld has shown himself to be much more disciplined.
In the one election where the Libertarian candidate had a real chance to pick up votes- Johnson ran a horrid campaign. He never appeared prepared, he did not present a coherent message and in the end that showed.
I think Weld has shown himself to be much more disciplined.
Yeah, that ticked me off to no end. I put his sign in my yard, but he got so embarrassing I hid it in my garage. I still voted for him, but he nearly lost my vote. He was never prepared for interviews and did some beyond silly things. I’m sure he lost a lot of support for his bizarre antics. I entirely believe he could have broken 5% if he hadn’t ran such a bad campaign. He had the money, he was on every ballot, they had a good campaign organization. He should have hit double digits in the interior West and Great Plains.
That campaign organisation that Johnson created is still mostly there if the LP nominates a serious candidate. Weld could continue the money flow and earn some high endorsements which are great for publicity.
If the LP nominates someone like McAfee with his pornstar running mate, I’ll leave the LP forever. Luckily, I do believe the LP is maturing and won’t nominate nutjobs like they have in the past.
I realize Weld isn't the ideal LP candidate, although I do think he has legitimately embraced the party and is sincere about being and remaining a member and this his policy positions are likely to continue to modulate into something overall closer to the LP platform.
I also think that while it's not necessarily to the direct benefit of the LP, an LP ticket in 2020 with Weld on it could have a legitimate chance to break open the 2 party system. Weld messed up his bid for NY Governor, but he's otherwise got good political instincts and he's scary smart. I'm not saying he would win, but I think he could raise the profile and be seen as a legitimate candidate, not an oddity like Ross Perot, and not the doofus Gary Johnson ultimately came to be.
While the Trump base is beyond fixated on Trump, there is still a mass of disaffected Republicans who don't like Trump. Some of them disliked him enough to vote for Hillary last time, but I bet many of those people and others besides would love a credible third party option. McMullin was too little, too late, and I think he's also too conservative on social issues for a lot of people. I think as a former GOP Governor with a generally good reputation, Weld could be ideally positioned to do exactly what he's said he wants to do, which is attract people to the LP.
Obviously lots of other variables in play - who the Democrats end up nominating, and whether Trump is primaried from within the GOP, or if there is evidence enough to support impeachment coming out of the Mueller investigation. Who knows what the landscape will look like after the midterms and in 2020? But if I had to predict, I'd say that 2016 wasn't the last change election we are going to see and I think Weld could be a big part of that change.
(and nope, I still don't see myself voting for him, but as a spectator sport, this would add a whole new level of interesting to the political game)
I voted Johnson/Weld in 2016 and like some other posters on this thread I thought Weld should have been at the top of the ticket. He has always seemed very sensible to me. Fiscally responsible, socially liberal. There are a lot of us out here like that. Why can't we put together a viable political party? Anyway, if Bill Weld runs in 2020 he'll get my vote.
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