The following message lists and explains my choices for who to support for U.S. president on Showtime's "American Candidate," a reality-TV show which will be selecting a "peoples' candidate" for president between now and October. Please note that I haven't reviewed all the candidates (there are too many!), only the sixteen who listed their party affiliation as Libertarian and the additional four who turned up under a search for the keyword "libertarian."
I realize that some of the other candidates may be good folks who want to get power back to the people, but sorry guys, you should have let us know your commitment to freedom by identifying yourself with the party that most strongly promotes it, or at least used the word that most clearly indicates a pro-freedom philosophy! Seven of the nine candidates I'm recommending are Libertarians, while the other two are registered Republicans who call themselves libertarian. As most of the twenty individuals I reviewed were male, it so happens that all nine of my recommendations are men. I'm not trying to be sexist, these candidates just happened to strike me as best qualified.
The nine registered Libertarian candidates I'm not supporting all appear to have significant drawbacks in one way or another. One listed Ralph Nader as his favorite current politician. Another listed FDR as his favorite president (I won't embarass them by mentioning their names!) Some came across as too liberal, like the one who listed as his top priority a cap on income, with the money to be redirected toward education, and Dennis Kucinich as his favorite current politician; others, like the one who complained about Exxon outsourcing jobs to China and called gay marriage a "states rights issue" seemed too conservative. In some cases it was almost disappointing to see a person identify him or herself as a Libertarian. But, perhaps the feedback they get during this process will help them learn more about the issues and become better candidates in the future. Anyway, without further ado, here are my recommendations: