Libertarian Party National Convention: Review of the Candidates and General Observations

Over the past couple of days I watched the delegates of the Libertarian Party nominate its president and vice president candidates. It was live on CSPAN and held in Florida. The national convention had 911 delegates, 76 alternates, and a total of 931 votes.  (Not sure, but I think they may have a few super delegates)

Observations of Nominating the Standard Bearers

On Saturday night (May 28th) the party sponsored a debate of all the presidential candidates.  It was a lively group and diverse group. One was a millionaire businessman, one was a former governor, one was a doctor, etc.  This was an informal, but informative event. The former governor was Gary Johnson, the party's 2012 nominee.  His answers reflected an individual with governing experience.  

I also watched part of the vice president debate on YouTube. It was on the Libertarian Channel. 

On Sunday the delegates voted for their presidential and vice presidential nominees.  Each candidate was given 10 minutes to use as he saw fit. Most had delegates introduce the candidate and/or ran an introductory video.  

Former governor Gary Johnson won the most votes on the first ballot.  A candidate had to get 50 percent plus one to win.  Gov. Johnson won 49.5 percent on the first ballot. The candidate with the lowest number of votes was eliminated.  On the second vote, Gov. Johnson won 55.8 percent of the delegates and was nominated.  

in his acceptance speech Gov. Johnson asked the delegates to vote for former governor William Weld as his running mate. He offered several good reasons to have Gov. Weld on the ticket.  However, in most party conventions the nominee selects his running mate and the convention concurs.  Not this one.  

Gov. Weld had a couple of obstacles to overcome. First, he has not been a member of the party until he was asked to run with Gov. Johnson.  Second, some of his actions as governor of Massachusetts caused concern to several delegates. 

Gov. Weld did well in the vice president debate.  He also showed his Libertarian Party lifetime membership card to demonstrate his commitment to the party.  Several of his actions as governor 20 years ago were libertarian oriented, which was pointed out several times. 

Next was voting for the vice presidential candidate.  Each candidate was given 10 minutes to use as he saw fit.  Gov. Weld went first. He had two delegates speak in favor of him. Then Gov. Weld took the stage, his comments were around 3 minutes.  

Governor Weld got 49.0 percent on the first vote. So this went to a second ballot. On the second ballot a couple of candidates for vice president dropped out.  One of the former vice president candidates pleaded for party unity and the best way to help Gov. Johnson was to vote for Gov. Weld.  On the second ballot Governor Weld won 50.6 percent of the vote.  It was a close vote. 

Throughout the day delegates would approach one of the four microphones and report some Twitter trend or network coverage.  That was always well received by the chair and convention attendees. 

So now the party has its nominees.  If they poll above 15 percent, the two candidates will likely be asked to participate in the presidential debates. 

Observations of the Convention

But this is only part of the story.  The 2016 Libertarian Party convention was, in some ways, a throwback to another era.  In fact, it was held in a hotel ballroom, not a convention center for thousands of people.  No fancy decorations. No shows, fancy podiums, flashing lights, or performances.  

This convention was not a scripted event. Background:  starting in 1972 the GOP scripted the entire convention. By that I mean speeches were pre-filed and timed.  The goal was to ensure that the most important parts and best speakers of each night are on prime time.  Now this does not sound like much, but it makes a big difference. Example, George McGovern's speech accepting the 1972 democratic nomination did not take place until after 2 am.  Since then both major parties attempt to script their conventions to showcase the best in prime time. 

This convention lacked the slickness of democratic and republican conventions. The last exciting convention was the GOP in 1976 when then Gov. Reagan almost beat President Ford and we watched the Mississippi delegation decide if it would vote separately or as a unit. Since then conventions of the two parties have been shiny, clean, tech oriented, and frankly, really dull.  

In addition, the Libertarian Party Convention: 

• was very low tech, 
• on the first vote for the presidential nominee, state chairs sold their state, their nominees or bashed the democratic and/or GOP, 
• the delegates voted for a gift for Ms. Clinton and Mr. Trump (unfortunately I cannot recall what it is),
• had excitement (and I do not mean the stripper),
• had suspense (especially the vice president votes), and 
• had a highly effective chair.

A couple of examples are in order. The votes were checked by each state chairman. This was done by projecting an Excel spreadsheet on a screen in increments of 10 so state chairs could check the votes and vote totals.  The convention chair or vice chair would ask the secretary to scroll to the next batch of votes to review.  

Just think, when is the last time you saw a major party convention go to a second ballot? How about never.  And the Libertarian Party had two!

During the vice president nomination process several delegates asked for non-germane requests which the convention chair swiftly dealt with.  

A word about the convention chair, Nicholas Sarwark.  He chaired the Libertarian Party since 2014 and this would be his first presidential convention.  He was outstanding. He kept the convention moving, dealt with every parliamentary inquiry or other similar matters swiftly and fairly.  He also displayed a sense of humor on both days.  He certainly knows Robert's Rules of Order and did not treat any delegate in a disrespectful manner. 

Mr. Sarwark ran for reelection as chairman of the Libertarian Party and was reelected.  That is good for the party. 

Finally, thanks to CSPAN for showing much of the convention.  One of CSPAN's strongest points is that is shows an event without any commentary or analysis. We, the viewer, can do our own analysis.  It is the best way to watch a convention. Just ask your self this, do we really need all those talking heads?

In summary, I learned a lot about the Libertarian Party. These are dedicated people and dedicated to a cause.  The convention was entertaining and at certain points gripping.  I am glad I watched it.