Libertarian
Party Nominates Dr. Jo Jorgensen for President
by Joe Monack
by Joe Monack
Written on May 23rd, 2020
On Saturday, May 23rd, 2020, the Libertarian Party nominated Dr. Jo Jorgensen for president at a virtual convention with about 1,000 delegates from 50 states and D.C.
After
several rounds of runoff voting, Jorgensen received 51 percent to
secure the nomination for president. Other candidates seeking the
nomination at the convention were Adam Kokesh, Jim Gray, John Monds,
Vermin Supreme, and Jacob Hornberger. (Congressman Justin Amash of
Michigan said he was going to run but dropped out before the
convention began.)
Jorgensen
was born in Libertyville, IL in 1957. She got her Bachelor's in
psychology at Baylor and then an MBA from Southern Methodist
University. Finally, she earned a Doctorate from Clemson where
she is now a senior lecturer of psychology. She was the
Vice-Presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party in 1996, running
on a ticket with Harry Browne.
Jorgensen is the Libertarian Party's first female presidential candidate in its history of elections dating back to 1972. She is considered more moderate/pragmatic than others in the party -- a feature that could theoretically dampen her support among some purists, but could also bring in more mainstream voters who dislike both Donald Trump and Joe Biden. For example, Jorgensen does not argue that we need to totally eliminate government, like an anarchist would, but that, "We have got to cut the size and scope of the government."
Despite
being seen as somewhat moderate for a Libertarian, she is still less
"statist" (that being the use of government to attempt to
solve problems) than the two major parties' candidates. She called
the government's response to coronavirus “the biggest assault
on our liberties I’ve seen in my lifetime" and opposes
government bailouts for businesses, unlike Trump and Biden. The
Libertarian Party is sometimes described as socially liberal,
economically conservative, although many describe themselves as
consistently for liberty or consistently against government meddling.
Her
running mate will be chosen on Sunday as the convention continues for
a third day. There may also be a vote on whether to make the
porcupine the official mascot of the Libertarian
Party, although that's still up in the air.
http://www.kgun9.com/news/political/jo-jorgensen-named-first-female-libertarian-presidential-nominee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_Jorgensen
http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2020/05/16/michigan-congressman-justin-amash-drops-out-of-presidential-race-as-third-party-candidate/
Update (written on May 24th, 2020):
Spike Cohen won the VP nomination.
Written
by Joseph Monack on May 23rd and 24th, 2020
Published
to this site on May 24th, 2020
with permission from the author
