​As recently as four years ago, Ron Paul was the face of American libertarianism: the wild-eyed old uncle with uncompromising ideas who got all the kids excited, stayed just within one of the two major party, and who was on the receiving end of convention shenanigans (seriously, how did I miss the obvious parallels between the elder Paul and Senator Bernie Sanders?). But Paul decided against a third-party run in the previous two cycles and Gary Johnson stepped in to the leadership void, earning a solid million votes as the 2012 Libertarian candidate. Just over the weekend, Johnson won the parties’ nomination again.

For the most part, Johnson leaves me mildly unimpressed and a little dispirited (disclosure: I donated something on the order of $50 to him in 2012, before he dropped out of the Republican race). By most accounts, his record as governor of New Mexico was middling and mixed, though Johnson has both his defenders and detractors. As a Libertarian candidate… well, let’s just say that someone who runs a legal marijuana business, calls for a consumption tax, makes federal financing of his party a major priority, completely fumbles what should be an easy question about public accommodations, favors Ron Paul-style non-interventionism, and whose elevator pitch for libertarianism is “fiscally conservative, socially tolerant” isn’t exactly my favorite flavor of libertarianism.