Fox Business Network aired the first-ever televised Libertarian forum April 1, and Hillsdale College students showed strong support for Austin Petersen in a straw poll.
Young Americans for Liberty hosted a viewing party in the Grewcock Student Union for the first half of the pre-recorded debate, and polled those in attendance regarding who they thought won. Petersen, founder of The Libertarian Republic, received 7 votes, and cybersecurity entrepreneur John McAfee, earned 3. Libertarian front-runner former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson received no votes.
“I was really glad to see the Libertarian candidates get a chance to express their ideas,” sophomore Adam Pierce said. “There was a lot of agreement. They weren’t quarrelling with each other or having juvenile disagreements.”
Despite airing April 1, the Libertarian candidates, though full of idiosyncrasies, spoke seriously about issues, touching on a wide range of topics, including foreign policy, abortion, religious liberty, and discrimination. Although each of the three candidates seemed to agree on many policy issues, they did make themselves clear about what separated them from each other.
At 35, Petersen is the youngest person seeking the Libertarian nomination. He was the only pro-life candidate at the debate.
“I believe I am the only candidate who can build a coalition of disaffected conservatives, reasonable Democrats, and independents because I am the only pro-life and pro-constitutional Libertarian Party candidate running,” Petersen said. “I may be the youngest candidate in the race, but younger men than I founded this country, and it will be young people’s responsibility to save it.”
Johnson, when disagreeing with Peterson about discriminatory business practices, said he would approve of Jewish bakers being forced to sell their cakes to Nazi customers.The discussion bridged from whether a Christian baker should have to bake a cake for a gay couple.
“I think that if you discriminate on the basis of religion, I think that is a black hole,” Johnson said. “I think you should be able to discriminate for stink, or you’re not wearing shoes or whatever. If we discriminate on the basis of religion, to me, that’s doing harm to a big class of people.”
Student reactions to the debate were positive. Many enjoyed hearing from a different perspective.
“One of the cool moments was when Peterson spoke about charity. He talked about how the government, by giving free handouts, has taken charity away from the American, people which was a point I never heard a politician make on television,” sophomore Aaron Andrews said.
“There was one point John Stossel was speaking about something, and then he waved the constitution in front of the camera, and then I realized I have never seen the Constitution on screen before,” Andrews said.
Nevertheless, sophomore Josh Paladino said, the party has room for improvement in presentation.
“I thought all of the candidates had a lot of good things to say, different from the two mainstream parties, but I think their delivery is less than ready for prime time,” Paladino said. “They just don’t sound polished in any way. They sound as if they are making up the answers to questions on the spot, but at the same time, you feel a sense of genuineness from that which is different from the pre-recorded response that you get in the Republican or Democratic debates.”
The event acts as a critical step for third party candidates previously excluded from officially sanctioned debates. In a national presidential poll, conducted by Monmouth University, Gary Johnson came in at 11 percent against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
The Federal Election Commission recognizes a party as official and eligible for federal funding when a party wins 5 percent of the vote. If a party reaches 15 percent, it gets representation in the sanctioned presidential debates.
The second half of the debate will air Friday at 9 p.m., and YAL plans to hold another viewing party in the Grewcock Student Union.
The debate gives the organization the chance to get introduce itself to campus and share the principles for which is stands, YAL President sophomore Brendan Noble said.
“We are hoping to bring a lot of liberty lovers together from around the campus and connect with other classical liberal organizations, like Praxis, to promote libertarian ideas and have discussions and hold debates,” Noble said. “We are just trying to tell people, if they aren’t libertarian, to look at some new ideas. Here are some alternatives who will talk about actual policy. I strongly encourage people to come out and be open to new ideas.”
