August 24, 2015
Chris Dock | LPMN Chair
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President in mid-June, people thought it would be a briefly entertaining publicity stunt that was meant to garner some free advertising for his next reality show or business deal. Who could have imagined that two months later he would continue to lead the polling numbers among the potential GOP candidates? The numbers change based on who is sponsoring each poll, but Trump is consistently receiving twice the level of support of his leading competitors.
What does this mean? Do people really think Donald Trump is the best Republican candidate for 
President? Or are people completely fed up with the status of politics, and they are gravitating towards him because he doesn’t just spew party-line rhetoric?
The interesting thing is that Trump is not only speaking out against the political status quo, but he does so in an abrasive and offensive manner – and his numbers keep rising. Dr. Ben Carson is also polling quite well (in third place on average) and he is also a candidate who is not a career politician – but he fills that role much more quietly than Trump.
While the Democratic race for Presidential nomination has not been receiving as much attention thus far, Bernie Sanders is in a position to give Hillary Clinton a run for her money (and she has plenty of it). With Clinton’s email scandal potentially dragging her down further, the nomination that was considered to be a given for her may be at risk. While Bernie Sanders is also a career politician, he represents a break from the Democratic machine in which Hillary Clinton is the “next in line” to be given her seat at the head of the table. Now Joe Biden might be entering the fray – that should be interesting as well.
Nobody knows what the upcoming months will bring, but it looks like the Presidential nomination races are going to be much different than anyone expected. Will we still end up with Bush vs Clinton, the sequel? Or has America had enough of the big parties selecting candidates for us without considering what we want and need? We are seeing a growing dissatisfaction with the current state of our political landscape, and voters are ready for significant changes in all levels of politics.
America seems ready for a Libertarian candidate to provide a real alternative to the political machine that isn’t meeting the needs of the people. American voters need to deliver the following message to the career politicians who are ruining our country for their own power and profit – “You’re Fired!”
Concerned about the expansion of government control and the erosion of individual liberty? Please consider joining and becoming active with the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. Libertarians support liberty on all issues, all the time! Libertarianism is a philosophical and political movement to promote personal freedom, strong civil liberties, a genuinely free marketplace, and peace.