I’m going to size up the people of Long Island City early and speculate that Hillary will get two votes for every one that Donald receives. Oh who am I kidding, I’m not a very good handicapper, so maybe it’ll be Donald who will receive two-thirds of the local vote.
Nevertheless, this year for the first time in many a quadrennium, we have an incredible candidate vying to be President of the United States. One who’s had experience running a major business, one who’s had experience running a major government, and most importantly one who embodies the true beliefs of our country in 2016.
Many of these beliefs have been kicking around and fomenting since the turn of the 21st century, yet most of them have never been given any real consideration when it comes time to pull the lever in the voting booth – as most people fall back on what they are comfortable with. This inevitably leads to the status quo, which in a rapidly changing world, makes most of us slowly worse off.
In looking for an ideal candidate, I’d want someone with business experience and not solely a political animal. On the other hand, we have to keep in mind a decision that may have a significantly bigger and longer-lasting impact on the course of this nation than who our next president is: the appointment of our next Supreme Court justice.
In my four years writing for LICtalk, I feel I’ve gotten a pretty good sense of the type of people who live in Long Island City, or at least a pretty good sense of who my readership is (Hi mom!). To be blunt, there’s a fairly high degree of homogeneity1, largely due to the rezoning and the recently built large towers2 that by price point and aesthetics attract people from very similar economic backgrounds, which translates to similar levels of education and to a certain extent occupation, and ironically age.3.
Though this may be a bit of conjecture, I’m guessing that most people in Long Island Cityhave pretty tepid feelings in support of the two major candidates, and their final voting decision will be heavily influenced by who they don’t want to see as our next president. Why must it be this way?
It does not. Because this year there is a highly qualified candidate with contemporary, sensible, and non-partisan views similar to those I believe most people in LIC share.
His name is Gary Johnson and he was previously the Governor of New Mexico. He is running with Bill Weld, a former Governor of Massachusetts, on the Libertarian Party ballot. I wouldn’t pay too much heed to what one typically views as strident libertarian ideals a la Ayn Rand. Nor would I in any way confuse these two with the neo-libertarian pick-and-choose strain as practiced by Rand Paul. What this pair really is is pragmatic, and unlike the two major candidates, willing to work with both sides of Congress to forge well-crafted practical solutions.
I’m not going to get into policy details, if you’re interested it’s easy enough to google them. Equally relevant, and hopefully intriguing enough for you to do further research, is this entry from Johnson’s wiki bio about his accomplishments pre-politics:
While in college, Johnson earned money as a door-to-door handyman.[12] His success in that industry encouraged him to start his own business, which focused on mechanical contracting, and Johnson was its only employee.[13] He eventually grew it into a multimillion-dollar corporation with over 1,000 employees.[15] By the time he sold the company in 1999, it was one of New Mexico’s leading construction companies.[16]
I believe that the more you get to know the man and his policies, the more you will come to think highly of him. A sentiment that’s likely to be the opposite of increased contact with the two major party candidates as we march towards November. That is why the editorial board of LICtalk is endorsing Gary Johnson for president in 2016. He is the right person, possibly even at the right time.
Gary Johnson 2016 Campaign Website – read policies here
LICtalk 2012 Presidential Endorsement – plus ca change… “Has the choice really come down to ‘Who will I feel less queasy about on the morning of November 7th?’”
The LICtalk Rationale for Third Party Voting From 2012 – were one to decide to go to the election booth and not vote for O or R H or D, the effect of their vote would be greatly magnified coming off such an incredibly low base
- a term that shouldn’t be taken in any way as an insult as the same can be said about Bushwick, Midwood, Flushing, etc. [↩]
- oh sure, many can start pointing to older parts of LIC in a search for diversity, but by and large it’s true [↩]
- If you’re still a doubter, or critic of the homogeneity viewpoint, think of it in reverse and who gets eliminated: those making less than $100K and over a million – between those two numbers, and yes, it is a large swath, we’re looking at 90% of residents, and probably 75% of total residents fall in a range about 1/3 that size [↩]
Citizen says
August 1, 2016 at 8:55 pmWow thank you for giving Gary Johnson the publicity instead of the two fools/narcissists running for office!!! I thought I was surrounded by only Hillary drones in this neighborhood!
Crispian says
August 1, 2016 at 9:00 pmWow somebody who has the same thoughts and ideas (aside from small government) as Hillary and he may get 1M votes total in the general election. Great way to guarantee that Trump picks the next members of SCOTUS that change the liberties that you consider so important.
Kelly says
August 1, 2016 at 10:04 pmThis should be a blog about LIC not politics. Disgusting really.
Crispian says
August 1, 2016 at 10:10 pmAgreed, no one wants to hear about the blog owners political thoughts or aspirations.
Anonymous says
August 2, 2016 at 1:07 pmEh, a lot of media organizations, websites, newspapers, etc. make political endorsements. It’s nothing new and certainly not disgusting. There is no rule saying a blog can’t stray from it’s usual topic of conversation occasionally. It’s just food for thought. If you don’t want to read about politics here, that’s okay. Just take it with a grain of salt and move on.
Rick says
August 3, 2016 at 11:24 amSad to see this blog support an Islamophobic bigot and white nationalist Randroid like Gary Johnson, who has said many times he’s for laws banning burqas in public, and calls himself “Sharia-phobic”. Gary Johnson is just a pro-weed Trump
Anonymous says
August 4, 2016 at 2:17 pmDoes that mean that you are for Sharia law? Forget about Trump, I sure hope you’re not implying that Hillary is pro-Sharia or endorses it in any way. It would be an insult to all she’s fought for.