Joanne Marie Jorgensen, May 1, 1957 (Libertyville, Ill.) -
VP candidate for Libertarian Party (aka Independent) (1996)
Running mate with nominee: Harry Edson Browne (1933-2006)
Popular vote: 485,798 (0.50%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In many ways the 1996 election had several historic landmarks for the Libertarians, starting with their Presidential nomination process. In this year they qualified for primary election status in more states than any other third party in US history up to that point. The clear winner in this chapter of election season was financial advisor and author Harry Browne. With a campaign committee that included past Presidential and VP nominees Hospers, Clark, Bergland, Nathan, and Lord, Harry Browne seemed to be the choice of the Party's establishment. There were charges that the Party itself, which is supposed to be neutral in such cases, engineered Browne's selection over more extreme, less desirable candidates in terms of appealing to mainstream voters. Accusation of conspiracies and unethical behavior by staff members were made. Although not as split as it had been in earlier years, the Libertarians went into the 1996 election bruised and battered from their own inner wars.
One of the distinguishing paradoxes about the Libertarians is that in spite of the fact the party is comprised of a vast array of individualists with conflicting concepts of ideological purity vs. political practice, the core of their official platform has changed little over the decades. Unlike the candidates from the Big Two when I wonder where the Democratic and Republican candidates fall in the Left/Right spectrum given the pandering and meandering vagueness of their political stances, with Libertarians on the ballot the nuances are different-- I want to find out if they are pure or practical, do they lean more toward economic, or, civil libertarianism?
Jo Jorgensen, a Party member who had run for Congress in 1992 as a Libertarian, actively campaigned for the Vice-Presidential nomination and did not appear to have any strong competition. She developed a stump speech that was repeated throughout the year: "Republican politicians give us the political equivalent of 1-900 phone sex. They tell us that we're special. They ask us what we really want— and tell us that they want it, too. Then they start breathing heavy and getting excited by what we want. They tell us their fantasy for us. They tease us and tempt us. They arouse our passions. They tell us how much they want it and how good it is going to be. When we hang up from the 1-900 Republican Tax Cut Fantasy Line, we realize three things: they cost us a lot of money, the real thing is a lot more satisfying, and they're never going to come over ... The Democrats want to increase annual spending by $55 billion. The Republicans want to up the total by $45 billion. That $10 billion dollar difference works out to 10.5 cents daily from every American. So whoever said there isn't a dime's worth of difference between Democrats and Republicans was wrong; there is a dime's difference. One dime!"
The Party wasted no time adjusting to the World Wide Web. Jorgensen kept a campaign diary that was posted on the Browne website. I found this particular entry to be insightful and of interest as it reveals a bit of the human side of campaigning and what life must be like for candidates in the same circumstances--
Thursday, October 10. I have one of my most rewarding experiences speaking before a high school class. There are two male students in the back of the room who keep asking me great questions -- questions of interest, not of skepticism.
Finally one of them, a large guy who looks like a football player (but isn't -- I asked), says, "So what you're saying is that you think that people should be able to do ANYthing they want, as long as they don't hurt anyone else?" I reply, "Yes, that's about it." He practically jumps out of his chair and exclaims, "Wow! THIS is the party for me!!"
-- (Political) Queen for a Day --
Later that evening. After my last talk in Virginia I go out to dinner with the local Libertarians and a few audience members who tag along. The menu includes both dinner and breakfast items. Even though it's dinnertime, I ask if I can order from the breakfast menu. (I rarely eat breakfast out, so I get breakfast food whenever I can .)
The waiter informs me that they only serve breakfast in the morning, so I tell him I'll be happy ordering from the dinner menu. Jokingly, the local Libertarians ask the waiter if he knows who I am and ask if he would turn down such a request from Jack Kemp. The waiter, after talking with the chef, returns and says they will be more than happy to make anything I want, anytime I want it.
I object, explaining that this is the kind of treatment I want taken away from the politicians, and that I am running to make government so small that people wouldn't have a reason to treat politicians so specially.
But the waiter insists and seems truly hurt, so I relent and order breakfast. Here is yet one more taste I get of how our elected representatives in Washington are treated like kings and queens. No wonder none of them want to leave office once elected!
The Browne/Jorgensen ticket made the ballot in all 50 states + DC, a very impressive achievement. Ross Perot and his Reform Party plus Ralph Nader and the Green Party delegated the Libertarians to 5th place in the final results but even so the Party achieved some milestones. Browne was not a household name but he still finished with the second highest popular vote and percentage numbers in the history of the Party up that time. Jorgensen had the third highest of number of popular votes for any female third party candidate in US history, only behind Winona LaDuke of the Green Party in 1996 and 2000.
The Browne/Jorgensen ticket had their best showings in: Arizona 1.02%, Nevada 0.96%, Alaska 0.94%, New Hampshire 0.85%, Wyoming and Colorado 0.82% each, Massachusetts 0.80%, Georgia 0.78%, and Delaware 0.76%. These results were different in that they demonstrated a wider regional appeal than just the Far West as in the past.
Jo Jorgensen is now the 2020 Presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, finally breaking the glass ceiling of that party for the top spot.
Election history:
1992 - US House of Representatives (SC) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
2020 - US President (Libertarian Party) - pending
Other occupations: academic lecturer in psychology, computer systems business
Notes:
Was on a roller hockey team.
Can fly planes.
Grew up in a conservative Republican family.
Courted by conservative Democrats to run for Congress in 1998 but apparently it did not happen.
