Nicholas Sarwark, who chairs the Libertarian Party, said former presidential candidates have approached his group to solicit information about launching a White House bid on the Libertarian ticket.
“We have been approached by candidates who have dropped out of the old party races about running on the Libertarian Party ticket,” Mr. Sarwark told The Washington Times. “At this point, none of them have jumped in … but we have explored the options and talked to them about the logistics of it, what they would have to do, how they would be able to become part of the process.”
Mr. Sarwark declined to confirm which specific candidates have done so. But Republicans and conservative activists bent on taking down GOP front-runner Donald Trump have been batting around various ideas on how to stop him or slow him down.
The party’s national convention is being held Memorial Day weekend. Mr. Sarwark said the nomination process is very open and any former candidates could jump in at any time. But, he said, they would also have to be able to convince activists they would be able to adequately represent the party.
“I’m not sure that you could go in and say well, this is the most important election in our lifetime, you have to stop Trump, put me on the ticket and I’ll do it, because we’ve heard that this is the most important election in our lifetime every election,” he said. “The primary argument for why not to vote Libertarian. Next time — it’s always tomorrow with them. We’re a little bit more immune to the fear and doom than most.”
But he said the Libertarian Party is the logical choice for voters dissatisfied with the choices in the Democratic and Republican fields. He said people will be thirsty for another option, given the high negatives of GOP front-runner Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
“So I think that we’ll be offering every single American the opportunity to vote for what they want instead of voting against what they’re afraid of, and then it’s up to them,” he said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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