Photo via Wikimedia CommonsMost people probably figure that today’s political agenda is limited to tonight’s vice-presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. And, yeah, while it might be fun to play a drinking game according to how many times Biden says “literally” when he means to say “figuratively,” debates are still kind of dull.
Lest we forget, however, that there are other tickets in the presidential race besides the Democratic and Republican teams. And tonight, D.C. voters can literally roll the dice with the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president.
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson will be visiting the recently opened bar The Board Room (1737 Connecticut Avenue NW), which stocks healthy supplies of beer, cocktails and board games. Johnson, who is popping in for a meet-and-greet, is hoping some campaigning in the Dupont Circle tavern can help push Republican nominee Mitt Romney into third place in D.C. in the November 6 election.
John Vaught LaBeaume, a Libertarian political strategist, tells DCist it’s a goal within reach. “Libertarians beat Republicans in Dupont,” he says. LaBeaume adds that when the Libertarians ran Marijuana Policy Project founder Rob Kampia for Congress in 2000, he ran even with the Republican Party’s candidate in Dupont Circle and ahead of the GOP in Adams Morgan and Columbia Heights.
Moreover, LaBeaume sees in the recent campaigns for local office made by reformers evidence that a libertarian message holds well with District voters. “You can see the places where Bryan Weaver, Josh Lopez and Pat Mara did well,” he says. Of course, all three of those candidates failed in their bids for D.C. Council seats, though Mara, a Republican, was later elected to represent Ward 1 on the State Board of Education.
LaBeaume says Johnson, who campaigned in Dupont Circle during the summer, should be palatable to newer D.C. voters for being “socially accepting and fiscally responsible.”
“For newer voters the Republcan brand is irreperably damaged because of their social issues,” he says. Johnson’s best-known policies are his opposition to the federal drug war and support for the legalization of marijuana. LaBeaume says his candidate is also ahead of the White House on same-sex marriage.
“[Johnson’s] demanding federal recognition of marriage equality, which is even further than Obama,” LaBeaume says.
Considering the setting of tonight’s campaign event, we ask LaBeaume what board game would best describe his candidate. He can’t think of a title, but says it would be “not a game of chance, but a game of choice.”
