With the general election now in full swing, voters of all political persuasions continue to be disappointed by their options. A fear-mongering maniac who probably will cause World War III represents the right, while a centrist—some would say right-leaning—candidate attempts to garner the support of the left.
A number of liberals, particularly former Sanders supporters, have proposed former New Mexico Governor and current Libertarian candidate as a viable alternative. He is not. Though he shares a handful of positions with Sanders—and those positions have been repeatedly highlighted in misleading social media memes—he is still a conservative, and his positions on some basic rights are anything but Libertarian.
I'm not just another Clinton supporter telling Sanders voters what to do. I supported Sanders, too. But I know that a third party candidate will not win. More importantly, I know that a Johnson win would be disastrous for the liberal cause. Johnson supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership, opposition to which has been a signature issue of the Sanders campaign. But his failings hardly end there.
Johnson Is Not Pro-Choice
A number of media outlets have cherry-picked statements to suggest that Johnson is pro-choice. But the candidate opposes stem cell research on ethical grounds, and believes that Roe vs. Wade was incorrectly decided.
He's been quoted as saying that abortion is a personal decision, but then he speaks out of the other side of his mouth by insisting that abortion rights should be left up to the states. That's exactly where we were prior to Roe vs. Wade, back when women died from back alley abortions. If abortion, which has been deemed a Constitutional right deriving from the right to privacy, were left up to the states, then the procedure would immediately become illegal in at least half the country.
Johnson also supports parental notification laws, which subject girls in desperate need of abortion to parental abuse.
Johnson Wants to Control Women
Gary Johnson has previously suggested that banning Burqas and other Muslim religious garb might be a good idea—never mind the intrusion on the right to religious freedom this would constitute, nor the fact that some women happily choose to wear a Burqa. The candidate believes it's perfectly reasonable to dictate which clothing women wear.
Think the Burqa thing is just a weird idiosyncrasy? Think again. Johnson also thinks employers have a right to dictate whether their employees have access to birth control. And those pesky anti-discrimination laws that give women a way to fight back when they're harassed, assaulted, or discriminated against at work? Johnson opposes the right to sue for discrimination.
Johnson Wants to Limit Constitutional Rights
Johnson argues that most questions of personal liberty should be left up to the states. This includes issues such as gay marriage, racial segregation, and virtually every other form of discrimination. Leaving these questions to the states might sound reasonable, particularly if you see the big, bad federal government as an intrusive force.
Except that when issues are left to the states, individuals lose rights. Segregation, after all, was a state's rights issue. The states made the wrong decision, just as they did with issues such as abortion and gay marriage. Sending something back to the states means removing it as a Constitutional right. That's a reduction in personal liberty—not something that can fairly be called libertarian, and certainly not something Sanders supporters should endorse.
Johnson is Weak on the Environment
Johnson says he believes in human-created global warming, but he opposes most measures to curb it. Instead, Johnson argues, the free market will fix the problem. Somehow BP and its friends will become rabid environmentalists if only the federal government shuts down the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Johnson Has No Solution for Health Care Reform
Obamacare is far from perfect, but has increased access to health care, provided some preventative services for free, and ended the heinous practice of denying people health care based on pre-existing conditions. Johnson wants to end all of this, in addition to killing federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. Think it's because he has a new solution? Nope. Somehow by doing nothing, the problem of unaffordable health care will magically improve.