Why Sanders supporters cannot back Gary Johnson: His libertarianism is antithetical to the senator’s Democratic socialism - Salon.com

At the Libertarian Town Hall on CNN earlier this month, the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld made a pitch to both “Never-Hillary” and “Never-Trump” voters on the left and right of the political spectrum as the sane and principled third-party alternative for 2016. And whether you agree or disagree with what the two former governors had to say, it’s hard to deny their likability — especially in an election where the two major party candidates are as thoroughly unlikable as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

Johnson and Weld presumably have a better shot at appealing to Never-Trump conservatives than Never-Hillary liberals or leftists (whose political views align much more with the Green Party’s Jill Stein), but the former New Mexico governor did make a compelling pitch — superficially, at least — to disaffected Bernie Sanders supporters at the Town Hall. And while polls indicate that the majority of the democratic socialist’s supporters will vote for Clinton in November, there is a minority faction that will be voting their conscience — and Johnson is certainly in a position to woo some of these voters.

With this undoubtedly in the back of his mind, the libertarian candidate said that he and Bernie are similar “on about 75 percent of what’s out there,” from marriage equality and reproductive rights, to the legalization of marijuana and the end of futile military interventions overseas. From an “economic standpoint,” however, Johnson admitted disagreement:...
http://www.salon.com/2016/08/15/why-sanders-supporters-cannot-back-gary-johnson-his-libertarianism-is-antithetical-to-the-senators-democratic-socialism/