Can the Libertarian Party get 1 percent of the vote? L.P. nominee Gary Johnson fights to reach single digits.

• Author: Quinn, Garrett

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In the March 1981 issue of reason, columnist Murray Rothbard was unsparing in his assessment of the Libertarian Party's presidential ticket. "After an unprecedented hype and a highly expensive campaign," Rothbard wrote, "it managed to corral only one percent of the vote. It is nowhere near its goal of becoming a third major party." Little did anyone know that the disappointing 1 percent finish achieved by attorney Ed Clark and his running mate, industrial titan David Koch, would mark the Libertarian Party's presidential high water mark.

Since its inception in 1972 the Libertarian Party (L.P.) has participated in 10 presidential elections, cracking the single-digit threshold just that once (with a scant 1.06 percent). Popular libertarian movement figures such as Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) in 1988 and investment guru Harry Browne in 1996 and 2000 never managed to take even 0.5 percent of the popular vote. Paul was the last L.P. candidate to finish as high as third place; Ralph Nader has outpolled the party's nominee in every election after 1992.

In the last cycle, Bob Barr seemed positioned to change all that. The 2008 nominee, a former Georgia congressman and recent defector from the GOP, arguably had the highest national profile of any L.P. candidate in at least two decades. His running mate, enthusiastic Las Vegas pitchman Wayne Allyn Root, wooed some Libertarians with his vision of mainstreaming the party into electoral relevance. The emergence of Ron Paul as a significant national force within the GOP suggested that the lure of political libertarianism was stronger than ever.

But even before the election, the nomination of two longtime Republicans (both of whom had previously favored policies, such as the war on drugs and the Defense of Marriage Act, abhorred by many Libertarians) left the party deeply divided, a rift that was on full display at a contested and controversial nominating convention. When Election Day came, the Barr/Root ticket received just 0.4 percent of the vote--the party's highest percentage since 1996 and its highest raw vote total since 1980, but still a disappointment. Both candidates ended up going back to the GOP, with Barr endorsing Newt Gingrich during the 2012 election cycle and Root backing Mitt Romney.

With this track record, old Libertarian Party hands knew better than to get prematurely optimistic about presidential politics. Still, on paper, the 2012 L.P. ticket may be the strongest one yet. Two-term New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and former Orange County, California, Superior Court Judge Jim Gray may not have the money of the Clark campaign, the devoted following of Paul, or the financial chops of Browne, but Johnson has statewide executive experience, something no previous candidate could claim.

Even though Johnson was running for president as a Republican as recently as December 2011, he has a strong libertarian resume as the first sitting governor to come out in favor of legalizing marijuana. (Gray, too, is well known as an early, risk-taking legalizer.) Although he has largely flown under the radar of the national political media...