DURHAM, N.C. _ As a persistent rain fell, supporters of Libertarian presidential candidate Jo Jorgensen gathered in Durham on Saturday night to applaud the three-time candidate's laments about the "too big, too bossy, too nosy and too intrusive" federal government.
"We need to put the decision-making power back into your hands, because you know what's best for you," she said, to cheers from the crowd of over 200 people at the Mystic Farm & Distillery. Most of the attendees were white and in their 20s or 30s _ and most were not wearing masks or maintaining a 6-foot distance from other attendees.
Jorgensen's list of big government's failures included restrictive coronavirus lockdowns, massive military spending, and a broken health care system.
Under a libertarian administration, she said, each problem would be solved by a free market unrestrained by the federal government.
"Where's the bottom line on defunding programs with the federal government? As low as we can go," she said. "The federal government should only be involved in part of the court system and the military. And that's it."
Libertarian candidate for Governor Steven DiFiore also spoke, along with Michael Munger, a libertarian candidate running for a North Carolina House seat in District 34.
This is Jorgensen's third run for office, after running for South Carolina's 4th congressional district seat in 1992 and for vice president in 1996. She was nominated to lead the Libertarian party's ticket in May after defeating her opponent Vermin Supreme, who has run numerous joke campaigns with a promise to give a free pony to every American and make teeth brushing mandatory.
In an interview with The News & Observer in her campaign bus after the rally, Jorgensen described how a libertarian administration would address the coronavirus crisis.
"The first thing I would do _ and I wouldn't expect to be successful _ but I would try to get as much money back from the large corporations as I could that we gave money to because they should not have been given any money," she said.
"I would open it up so people could get back to work, and reduce taxes," such as the payroll tax, so that companies could afford to hire employees back more easily.
Jorgensen's platform also emphasizes criminal justice reform and decriminalizing drugs.
"I want to defund the police from a federal level. Now whether a local police department wants to defund the police, that's up to them. I have no position on local police," she said, adding that if a local police department decided to opt for even greater investment in policing "people can always move to another part of the country."
Libertarian support has grown in North Carolina in recent elections. In 2016, Libertarian party candidate Gary Johnson won 2.72% of the votes, up from 1% in his 2012 run. In 2008, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr received just .6% of the vote in North Carolina.
"We're hearing people say we've got two rich old white guys running for office who never had to, you know, live under the laws ever. They pretty much feel they're above the law. And people are saying, 'I don't see much of a choice,'" Jorgensen said.
Some of Jorgensen's supporters said that they're voting for her because they're not satisfied with the other candidates.
"I wasn't even political until I found Jo," said Matthew Vain, 28. "I refused to (vote). I've never believed in it because of gerrymandering and all the laws from Jim Crow that are still in effect. I didn't see a point in it until this."
He said he registered to vote for the first time two weeks ago, as a Libertarian.
Others said they are voting for her because of her proposal to cut military spending _ to "Turn America into One Giant Switzerland: Armed and Neutral" as her website states.
"You can vote for more debt and more war by voting for either Democrat or Republican," said Tom Bailey, a Vietnam veteran who drove from Greensboro to attend the rally. "I got into one war based on a presidential lie. I was over there killing people for not a good reason, and it made me a lot more cautious. The Demopublicans _ I call them Demopublicans because they're the same _ _ have fired the first shots in every one of these wars."
