Perry an LP rogue but Johnson is not?
Darryl W. Perry, co-host of Free Talk Live and CEO of Liberty Lobby LLC, unsuccessfully garnered the 2016 presidential nomination from the Libertarian Party, which went to Governor Gary Johnson.
After a rousing concession speech at the convention in late May, Perry started a libertarian lobby group, on top of his activism in the Free State Project, other media ventures, and award-winning books.
Being a radical libertarian he ran for three reasons: to run the most libertarian presidential campaign ever, to spread the message of liberty as loudly and much as possible, and to give people an actual libertarian to vote for.
Perry proudly proclaims to have done the former two. But people still wanted an actual libertarian to vote for, since GOP governor-turned-left libertarian Gary Johnson is not pro-LP platform enough..
As a response he embarks on a write-in presidential campaign. Per electoral laws in 17 states (AL, AK, DE, IA, ID, KS, MT, NE, NH, NJ, OR, PA, RI, VT, WA, WV, WY) plus DC, write-in votes for Darryl W. Perry will count. The name is "Darryl W. Perry."
According to Nicholas Sarwark, chairman of the Libertarian National Committee (LNC), in a press release about the matter, "Mr. Perry remains a life member of the Libertarian Party and was recently elected state chair of the Libertarian Party of New Hampshire. The LNC has no authority over the election of state party officers nor over the actions of state officers who choose to run rogue write-in campaigns."
How is being libertarian in the Libertarian Party being rogue? All the while both members of the LP ticket are in opposition to the LP platform. Even moderate Libertarians must acknowledge this contradiction.
Johnson admits not understanding basic libertarian philosophy, while his running mate Governor Bill Weld has nothing to say about it. Between the two of them they oppose self-ownership, private property, free market environmentalism, #taxationistheft, free trade, and freedom of association, which are all in the platform.
Granted the neocon liberal Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Clinton liberal Republican nominee Donald J. Trump are equally far worse than Johnson and Weld could ever be, in libertarian terms, but still not actual libertarians.
Outside of Perry and 2020 LP presidential candidate Adam Kokesh supporters and the Libertarian Party Radical Caucus nobody would have known about this candidacy. Thanks to the LNC press release, the Washington Post has picked up on the issue.
The LNC could have stayed silent, especially since even banning him would not mean his LPNH chair would be taken from him. Let the few hundred votes go ignored, but now Perry could get more votes than Harambe or Mickey Mouse.
The kicker is the contradiction. Perry is in no opposition to the LP platform, whereas Johnson goes against it routinely; but Perry is the rogue? Nicky, you got some 'splainin' to do...