In this 2022 file photo, Libertarian Chase Oliver, then a candidate for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat, listens during a debate in Atlanta, Georgia. as the party’s candidate in the 2024 election, rejecting former Presidents Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after each speaking at the party’s convention. (AP Photo/Ben Gray, File)
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PORTLAND, Maine — For voters uninterested in a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver’s position is surprisingly simple.
“I’m not 80 years old, I can speak in full sentences, I’m not a convicted felon,” he said at a campaign event. “It’s a very low bar, but I’ve managed to get over it.”
Oliver, 39, is an anti-war activist and the new public face of the Liberal Party, America’s third-largest political party, which could influence who wins the White House in November.
He won’t win the election, but that’s not the only criterion for his success. Giving the party more media attention, better access to the polls and more Liberal candidates for local offices is also on the agenda.
“There are concrete things we can do to build our party base that don’t require us to be in the White House this November,” Oliver said. “I think if done right, a lot of these things will be Consider it a victory in my eyes and a victory in the eyes of liberals across the country.”
After a chaotic Liberal national convention, in which Oliver ultimately clinched the party’s nomination after seven rounds of voting (60.6% to 36.6% “neither”), his campaign schedule was packed with travel across the country to promote his campaign. political campaign.
Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver hopes to expand the party’s support base, but faces strong opposition from reactionary elements within the party due to differing social and cultural views.
Stephen Fowler, National Public Radio.
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At a low-key campaign event at a brewery in east Atlanta, Oliver told friends, family and running mate Mike Trump that he believed the Libertarian Party could reach a younger generation disillusioned with America’s status quo.
“The thing I hear most is, ‘I became a liberal when I was young,'” he said. “Currently, there are more than 40 million Gen Z voters ready to hear a message outside of the two-party system.”
As a millennial politician, Chase Oliver had a different energy on the campaign trail than the conservative Biden or the meandering Trump, and was very outspoken about his views on what freedom means in theory and practice. What’s the idea.
“Broadly speaking, freedom means the right and ability to live peacefully as one sees fit,” he said. “If you don’t harm others with force, fraud, coercion, theft, or violence, if you don’t do any of these bad things, your life is your life. Your body is your body. Your business is your business, Your property is your property. It’s not mine and it’s not the government’s.
In this 2022 photo, Libertarian challenger Chase Oliver, left, and Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock participate in a U.S. Senate debate on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, in Atlanta. Herschel Walker was invited but did not attend. Oliver’s candidacy in the race largely forced the two leading candidates, Warnock and Walker, into runoffs.
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Libertarians are often seen as the candidates who stir up trouble in close races — including Oliver himself, who is running for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022 and has helped force incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock to run against the Republican Herschel Walker in a runoff election.
Still, Oliver hopes the party will grow and develop into something that appeals to more people.
“This is a golden opportunity for Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden 2.0, where voters are looking for something different and, specifically, they’re looking for young voices to rise up and really start to have a voice in our political system,” he said.
But the Liberal Party is facing an identity crisis, exacerbated by Oliver’s own identity.
There are different views on the future of the party
Oliver is gay and his support for gay rights – including issues affecting trans people – widened existing rifts within the party.
“I’m not just running as a gay candidate, but it’s certainly part of my identity,” he said. “It’s something I’m not ashamed of. I’m proud of who I am and living my authentic self, so I just hope to inspire other people to live their authentic selves.
Chase Oliver is gay and his support for LGBT rights led several state parties to oppose his selection as the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate.
Stephen Fowler, National Public Radio.
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Stephen Fowler, National Public Radio.
While waving an American flag decorated with marijuana leaves and rainbow stripes at the Portland, Maine, Pride festival earlier this month, Oliver took a break to hand out campaign literature and practice his campaign speech, and working with canvassers from rival campaigns to get out the vote.
“So Maine and Alaska are two states where people don’t have to worry about disruption effects,” he said. “One of the reasons I came to Maine and one of the reasons I wanted to go to Alaska was to let voters know, ‘Hey, you can put me first and don’t worry, you put Two Evils next. Whichever is lighter.
But some in the party see Oliver’s views and choice of nominee as a greater evil.
Oliver is known to be a more traditional liberal, aligned with the Classical Liberal caucus. There was a growing faction within the party—the Mises Caucus—that held distinctly illiberal views on social and cultural issues.
The Mises caucus has adopted a tougher, strident, and sometimes inflammatory approach to liberalism that is more compatible with the Republican Party under Trump — and was part of the former president’s speech at the Republican convention this year. reason.
Instead, Trump suggested that liberals support his campaign.
“You know, only [back me] If you want to win,” he said to boos and jeers from the crowd. “If you want to lose, don’t do this. Keep earning 3% interest every four years.
Former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump salutes the audience after speaking at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Washington, DC, on May 25
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Support Oliver to help Trump
Historically, Libertarian candidates have taken more voters away from Republican candidates, although some are explicitly seeking the opposite this time around.
That includes Libertarian Party Chairwoman Angela McArdle, who has made clear her support for Chase Oliver as a tool for Trump’s victory.
“Donald Trump said he was going to put a liberal in a cabinet position,” she said during a recent social media livestream. “He comes out and talks to us. He says he’s a liberal. He’s basically endorsed us. So in return, I’m endorsing Chase Oliver as the best way to defeat Joe Biden.
“Come on in, losers. We’re stopping Biden,” she quipped.
Oliver remained an optimist, believing despite the vitriol that there was a path to reconciliation based on a shared vision of freedom.
He dismissed some homophobia and opposition to his campaign as “loud voices” within the Liberal Party who were not representative of the party’s electorate as a whole.
Oliver also refused to speak ill of the Mises caucus or their beliefs.
“Honestly, I hope the divisions within the party can be bridged so that we can get more people involved in the process of this campaign,” he mused. “I will continue to extend my hand, even if some may want to shake it off. I must continue this work and try to bridge the divisions within our party.
So far, four states – Montana, Colorado, New Hampshire and Idaho – have publicly condemned Oliver’s nomination to varying degrees. But in the swing states that decide the election, where the margins really matter, he’s their man.
