#gjftw

This is an admittedly very optimistic electoral map meant to show what it would look like if Johnson/Weld were to do very well in the 2016 presidential election.

This map considers a few points:

Most voters currently dislike both Clinton and Trump.

Here is a list of the most libertarian states. While Johnson would need more than avowed Libertarians to vote for him, these are the states where there is the most existing support.

Mormons, though very conservative and not particularly libertarian, hate Donald Trump. (Hence Utah and Wyoming.) Johnson is already polling at 16% in Utah, with Trump only polling at 29%. An equal number of people answered “Other”, and it is not at all unreasonable to think that some of these will vote for Johnson.

Johnson was governor of New Mexico.

Cruz trounced Trump in Texas, and Texas Republicans harbor a lot of annoyance at Trump at the moment.

Sanders trounced Clinton in Washington in the primaries, getting 73% of the vote. This gives a lot of room for anti-Clinton Democrats to vote Libertarian.

Weld was governor of Massachusetts. (Though that one, I admit, is pretty unlikely.)

All other states are determined based on current polls, without factoring in Gary Johnson or Jill Stein as spoilers.

If Johnson were to do so well in these states, there is also a possibility that he might carry some swing states as well, such as Florida or Illinois, both currently going to Clinton.

Dear Governor Johnson:

Congratulations on your nomination as the POTUS candidate for the Libertarian Party. I, like many others, am thoroughly disappointed with the options the major parties have given us in this election - even more so than usual. That being the case, I have vowed not to vote for either of them. I am not a member of the Libertarian Party: being what you might call a moderate libertarian, I am currently running for office as an independent associated with the Reform Party. However, I recognize that you are our best hope in defeating the utterly reprehensible major-party candidates that are running, so for the moment at least, I am planning on voting for you, and I am telling all of my friends to do the same.

That being the case, I have to say that I am a bit disappointed with a few things you have said and done this campaign season. Most notably, there is the fact that you called Donald Trump “a pussy” back in March. Without a doubt, I do understand the sentiments behind this statement: Trump is a shameless bully, and like every bully, just below the surface, he is terribly weak. However, I have to point out two things about this comment.

First, the word you used is misogynistic: it crassly references female genitalia, it makes a negative generalization about anyone with said genitalia, and it quite unfairly associates said genitalia with the likes of Donald Trump. I do not see you as a misogynist, so I hope that you will realize that this is a word you should not be using in the future. I’m not one to obsess over who may or may not be offended with certain word choices, but this really is something to steer clear of.

Second, misogynistic or not, the use of such demeaning language is not becoming of you. It may be acceptable for reality television personalities masquerading as serious political candidates, but it is not acceptable for someone seriously running for President of the United States and trying to overthrow a corrupt political establishment. We reject Donald Trump specifically because of this kind of thing. Name-calling is something that should be far below us. Please do not try to beat Trump at his own game, because you will most definitely lose in terms of what really matters. Also, I really don’t care about your 3,000-mile mountain-bike ride: that says very little about your qualifications for the presidency. You have the moral and intellectual high ground, and that is why many of us are supporting you, so please, from this point on, be the adult on the stage.