With a majority of voters saying they're unhappy with the two major-party candidates, America may be ripe to consider a third choice in 2016 -- Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson.
That's the same time spent in an elected office as Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton, who served eight years as a senator from New York (of course, Clinton also served four years as U.S. Secretary of State, an appointed position).
Meanwhile, GOP presumptive nominee and billionaire Donald Trump has never held a political post of any kind.
But it's the extraordinary degree of dissatisfaction with the two major candidates that's driving an increasing number of voters to consider an alternative like the Libertarian Party...
A New York Times/CBS poll, taken from July 8-12, found that voters had an equally unfavorable view of both Clinton and Trump - they tied at 54%. Two out of three voters (67%) don't consider Hillary Clinton honest and trustworthy, while 62% don't think Donald Trump is honest and trustworthy.
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Among GOP voters, 36% are disappointed or upset with Donald Trump as their party's nominee; 31% of Democrats are disappointed with Hillary Clinton as their party's nominee.
Missouri voters are so unhappy with the two main choices that in a recent Public Policy Polling poll, 12% said they'd prefer a "giant meteor hitting the Earth" to voting for either Trump or Clinton.
The giant meteor option won't be on any ballots in November, but Gary Johnson will - for most, if not all voters. The Libertarian Party has secured ballot access in 36 states so far and has a good chance to make all 50.
But assuming you can vote for the Libertarian ticket, the next question is whether you should.
Of course, the cynics will argue that voting Libertarian is a "wasted" vote. That thinking assumes each voter needs to have a shot at casting the deciding vote for their vote to "matter." But most states are decided by large margins known in advance. By that logic, voting in states like California, New York, and Texas is a waste of time.
No, the essence of democracy is that every voter casts their ballot for who they think is best for the office. That could be Trump, Clinton, Gary Johnson, or even Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Voters who don't want to vote for Trump or Clinton owe it to themselves to vote for someone else, and Gary Johnson happens to be the most obvious alternative.
The problem is, most folks don't know much about the Libertarian Party. So here's the Money Morning primer on the Libertarian platform...
The Libertarian Party doesn't fit neatly into the left-right spectrum we've grown used to from the endless squabbles between the Republicans and Democrats.
The shorthand version of the Libertarian platform is "fiscally conservative and socially liberal," a political mash-up that's probably closer to where the average American voter falls.
The guiding principal of Libertarianism is personal freedom. In other words, the less government the better. Here's how that plays out with respect to the issues:
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For voters who find themselves agreeing with much of the Libertarian platform, one more question remains: How can Gary Johnson possibly win?
While the Libertarian ticket almost certainly can't win the 270 electoral votes required, a quirk in the U.S. constitution opens a crack of a possibility.
Here's how Gary Johnson could end up the White House...
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About the Author
David Zeiler, Associate Editor for Money Morning at Money Map Press, has been a journalist for more than 35 years, including 18 spent at The Baltimore Sun. He has worked as a writer, editor, and page designer at different times in his career. He's interviewed a number of well-known personalities - ranging from punk rock icon Joey Ramone to Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Over the course of his journalistic career, Dave has covered many diverse subjects. Since arriving at Money Morning in 2011, he has focused primarily on technology. He's an expert on both Apple and cryptocurrencies. He started writing about Apple for The Sun in the mid-1990s, and had an Apple blog on The Sun's web site from 2007-2009. Dave's been writing about Bitcoin since 2011 - long before most people had even heard of it. He even mined it for a short time.
Dave has a BA in English and Mass Communications from Loyola University Maryland.