At the National Libertarian Convention this weekend in Orlando, Missouri delegate and party chair Bill Slantz said the level of excitement was palpable, especially during Sunday’s vote for the Libertarian presidential candidate.
“The numbers here are 30 percent higher than any other convention in history. We have almost a thousand delegates here this weekend and the buzz in the room is very, very exciting,” Slantz said. “The room is just electric.”
With record convention attendance and polarizing Republican and Democratic candidates, Slantz believes the Libertarian presidential candidate could get the majority of the vote in November.
“I think we’ve come to a crux in America where people are just fed up that so many liberties and so much of their freedom is being taken from them. And America is standing up and saying enough is enough,” Slantz said. “We’re entangled in way too many police state measures around the world. People are fed up with that. We have way too many people in prison. And people are fed up with that.”
The more likely scenario, however, would be that the Libertarian candidate could take enough votes from the Republican and Democratic candidates to prevent any candidate from receiving a majority of Electoral College votes.
That would leave it up to the House of Representatives to choose the next president.
“You have a Republican majority in the House of Representatives who can’t stomach Donald Trump for obvious reason. You have a Republican majority in the House of Representatives who aren’t going to vote for Hillary Clinton. So their liberty candidate and bail out would by (likely Libertarian candidate) Gary Johnson,” said Slantz, who’s running for state senator in St. Charles’ 23rd District.
Slantz said the Libertarian Party can appeal to both Democratic leaning and Republican leaning voters.
“We’re a party of principle,” he explained. “We basically stand up for as long as you bring no harm to another you should be able to do as you please.”
Follow Camille Phillips on Twitter: @cmpcamille.
