In an advertisement uploaded to YouTube on Monday, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson pushed back against the idea that voting for him was a "wasted vote."
"For those of you worried I'll take votes away from the Democrat and to those of you worried I'll take votes away from he Republican, I say good," Johnson says in the ad. "They deserve to lose your vote. Take as many votes as possible away from the people in both parties keeping us in a state of perpetual war, increasing unsustainable debt, record joblessness, and a bipartisan economic death wish ruining America for 330,000,000 of us."
The former two-term governor of New Mexico will appear on the ballot in all 50 states.
Johnson supports the legalization of marijuana and believes same sex couples should be allowed to marry. He also believes the PATRIOT Act should be repealed and that women should have the right to terminate their pregnancy. Like other libertarians, he would like to reduce government spending, eliminate regulation, cut entitlement programs, and reduce taxes as much as possible.
Johnson had begun his 2012 presidential campaign as a Republican candidate. But after being barred from participating in GOP debates, he announced his intention to become the nominee of the Libertarian Party in late December 2011.
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States, which is active in all 50 states and has more than 250,000 registered voters.
Watch video, uploaded to YouTube on June 25, below:
