• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, June 2, 2016

The Libertarian party held its national convention this past weekend. Amid a host of colorful characters, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson took the party mantle. He will face off in November against Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and other third-party and independent candidates.

The party convention in Orlando, Florida, made a few waves on Sunday morning shows. With dismal favorability ratings for both major party candidates, smaller parties want to make noise.

In addition to a Libertarian candidate, there will be a Green party candidacy and likely an Independent one, too. This past weekend, Bill Kristol, who has been leading the search for a conservative Independent candidate tweeted: “Just a heads up over this holiday weekend: There will be an independent candidate -- an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance.”

Trump was less than amused by the news: “Bill Kristol has been wrong for 2yrs-an embarrassed loser, but if the GOP can’t control their own, then they are not a party. Be tough, R’s!”

Interestingly, Trump here uses “they” instead of “we” when referring to Republicans. It may have been an oversight, a political ploy to side with his anti-establishment supporters or a tell-tale sign that deep down, Trump does not see himself as a real member of the Republican party.

Whatever the case, Trump may have been better suited for the Libertarian party. On “Meet the Press,” Todd expounded: “I could make the argument … Trump would be more comfortable in the Libertarian party than he would in the Republican.”

Taking a look at some snippets of Gary Johnson’s opponents at the Libertarian debate, there are some ostentatious Trump-like approaches. Austin Peterson declared: “I believe in a world where gay, married couples can protect their marijuana fields with fully-automatic machine guns, baby!”

On the more facetious side, Marc Allan Feldman poked fun at the acrimony over bathroom use: “As a physician, I think it’s a very good idea to have two separate bathrooms, one for people who wash their hands, and one for people who don’t.”

If the Libertarians are looking to siphon off votes from Donald Trump, they erred by picking the most experienced candidate of the lot. Though Johnson may be the best pick for an establishment electorate and is loudly anti-Donald, Trump has proven that’s not where the country is in 2016.