Rep. Justin Amash from Michigan, the only member of the Libertarian Party in the United States Congress, has announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He will run as a candidate of the small Libertarian Party,
Amash launched an exploratory committee for his long-shot bid some political analysts contend will hurt Democrat Joe Biden more than president Donald Trump. Amash, 40, was formerly a Republican. He made history in May 2019 by becoming the first Republicans to say Trump engaged in impeachable conduct during the infamous Ukraine scandal.
He abandoned the GOP on July 4, 2019, declaring his independence from the party on Independence Day. As was then widely expected, he voted to impeach Trump on December 19.
"We're ready for a presidency that will restore respect for our Constitution and bring people together," tweeted Amash. "I'm excited and honored to be taking these first steps toward serving Americans of every background as president,"
Amash said Americans are ready for practical approaches based in humility and trust of the people.
"We're ready for a presidency that will restore respect for our Constitution and bring people together. I'm excited and honored to be taking these first steps toward serving Americans of every background as president."
Amash, however, must first win the nomination of the Libertarian Party to ensure his presidential ambition and this isn't a given. The party will hold its nominating convention in Austin, Texas, on May 31.
If he succeeds in his bid to wrest his party's nomination, Amash will follow in the footsteps of Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, who ran against both Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016. Weld was on the ballot in every state and won over 3% of the national vote, according to CNN.
Formed on Dec. 11, 2971, the Libertarian Party is the third U.S, political party. It advocates a platform that's part Democrat but mostly Republican. Libertarians promote civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire capitalism and limiting the size and scope of the federal government.
There are only 600,000 registered Libertarian voters in the U.S. This number compares to 42 million Democrat voters, 30 million Republicans, and 24 million Independents. Amash's candidacy is, therefore, an extreme long-shot with no chance of success.
Amash is the only Libertarian in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. As a Republican, he had a reputation as a lone dissenter. This was proven by his being the only GOP member of the House supporting Trump's impeachment.
This role as a lone, dissenting wolf jibes with Amash's reputation as a principled ideologue that has always valued his own ideas over his the party's even at the expense of becoming unpopular or losing votes.
Political pundits see Amash's run for president as a natural step in his evolution from a tea party Republican to an enemy of the Republican Party. Amash has made no secret of his opposition to Trump. One pundit said it's as if Trump was uniquely designed to represent all the things in the Republican Party Amash hates.
Amash said he supported Trump's impeachment because of the facts presented in former special counsel Robert Mueller's report. He voted to impeach Trump over the latter's conduct regarding military assistance to Ukraine.
