Craig Zirpolo
Contributing Writer
Libertarian Party presidential nominee and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson will make his way to VCU to speak to students about this year’s election on Oct. 11.
The event almost didn’t come together but thanks to a chance email and outreach through a student organization, Johnson was finally able to schedule an appearance in Richmond.
Senior sociology major Patrick Aleckner was working to organize Students for a Sensible Drug Policy’s End the Drug War Rally last spring when he first contacted Juanita Billings, co-director of Virginians for Gary Johnson.
After he offered to host Billings at the rally alongside other party representatives, she agreed to appear in April. While her outreach marked important exposure for the campaign, she also made an important connection in the VCU community in Aleckner.
After the rally, the two fell out of touch and Gov. Johnson’s campaign worked to drum up support across the state. After months without contact, it was Billings’ turn to make a request.
Last week, Billings contacted Aleckner and told him Johnson was interested in holding a event in Richmond.
“I love the idea and wanted to help because it’s an alternative voice to the two party system that I believe students will appreciate,” Aleckner said.
As a Richmonder and VCU graduate, Billings spent much of her time as co-director of Virginians for Gary Johnson working to bring Johnson to Richmond, and more specifically, to VCU.
“Virginia is a very important state,” Billings said. “I’m proud to be a Virginian and I believe that Virginians need to know who Gary Johnson is.”
When an opening arose and Johnson’s campaign contacted her with a date for his visit, she emailed every one of her contacts in Richmond. The only response came from Aleckner, who offered to help her organize the event at VCU. After some quick phone calls, Johnson was confirmed to speak at the Compass Plaza for the Oct. 11.
Many political appearances of this kind see candidates getting their message out about a specific issue. Billings’ goal for the event is much more essential.
“(I want) people to know who Gary Johnson is, to go find out more about him and do their homework about options beyond the current political situation,” she said.
Billings and Aleckner both said that the two major party candidates, Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, had very similar positions on a number of issues, like the war on drugs and military involvement in the Middle East. In opposition to these policies, Johnson supports ending the Drug War, decriminalizing marijuana by executive order and practicing military non-interventionism, according to his website.
These views, combined with fiscally conservative policy and further socially liberal views, make Johnson the perfect candidate for Richmond, according to Aleckner and Billings.
“The young people in this country are in for a huge surprise in the next decade or so if we don’t do something now,” Billings said, urging students to meet Johnson next week and continue political dialogue on campus.
Recently, Johnson was excluded from the Oct. 3 presidential candidate’s debate for failing to poll above 15 percent in national polls, which caused a number of debate sponsors to withdraw sponsorship amidst cries of false non-partisanship on the part of the Commission on Presidential Debates. The former Republican governor has made it onto this year’s presidential ballot in 48 states.