Who will get our votes?

• Position: Reason's 2016 presidential poll

reason's 2016 presidential poll

In every national election since 2004, reason has asked staffers, contributors, and other libertarian-relevant human beings to tell us who they're voting for and why.

We do this in the spirit of transparency. Too many journalists are overly precious about maintaining the appearance of objectivity; reason strives instead to be open and honest with our readers about the individual and collective biases that go into producing the magazine you hold in your hands.

While participation is not mandatory, we ask reason's staffers and associates to share what they do in their private ballot box time because we believe that showing our math year after year lets readers better calibrate their expectations about our coverage and balance their media diet as they see fit.

In 2016, as in past years, our survey yielded a high percentage of voters for the Libertarian Party nominee, but the results were far from monolithic. The Gary Johnson/William Weld ticket pulled a maj ority, but there were also "none of the above"s, "maybe"s, if/thens, a reluctant Green voter, an elaborate write-in, and even a few supporters of Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. In an attempt to measure red vs. blue sentiment among third-party and opt-out voters--a growing segment of the general electorate as well as the reason staff--we also asked which of the major party candidates our respondents found most alarming. Trump grabbed a decisive but not unanimous win in that category.

We took some early readings on the levels of Obama nostalgia present in the reasonverse, asking what people would miss about the last eight years. Answers ranged from the sincere ("his eloquence and his adult common sense," his "stabs at criminal justice reform") to the sarcastic ("Barack's empathetic understanding of small-town Americans," "watching progressives realize that cool black presidents can be just as bad as uncool white presidents," "Joe Biden's gaffes").

Nothing in what follows should be construed as an official endorsement for any candidate or cause. These are the personal views of individual participants and not the official views of reason or Reason Foundation, which is a 501(c)3 nonprofit and as such doesn't endorse particular candidates or specific pieces of legislation. Legalese aside, we do hope what follows is interesting, informative, and at least mildly enlightening.

--Katherine Mangu-Ward

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NICKGILLESPIE

Nick Gillespie, editor in chief ofreason,com and Reason TV, is co-author of The Declaration of Independents (PublicAffairs).

Who are you voting for? I'm voting for Gary Johnson, whose platform comes the closest to expressing my libertarian sentiments about the role of government. I like that he and Bill Weld are talking about cutting the size, scope, and spending of government and allowing people more choices in how we live our lives.

Which major-party candidate do you find most alarming? I find both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton unacceptable choices. Trump's xenophobia and protectionism are truly disturbing and so is his absolute lack of relevant experience. Clinton's foreign policy, attitude toward the surveillance state, and spending priorities are simply awful.

Who did you vote for in 2012? Gary Johnson.

What will you miss most about the Obama years? The foolish, momentary optimism some people had that nothing could be as bad as the Bush years.

THOMAS MASSIE

Rep. Thomas Massie represents Kentucky's 4th congressional district.

Who are you voting for? I've voted for Bob Barr (Libertarian) and Pat Buchanan (Reform Party) for POTUS in the past, but this year I plan to vote for Donald Trump.

KATHERINE MANGU-WARD

Katherine Mangu-Ward is editor in chief of reason.

Who are you voting for? I never vote. You almost certainly shouldn't either. The likelihood that your vote will decide the election is so small that it makes winning a MegaBucks jackpot look like a sure thing, doubly so if you don't live in a swing state. There are better ways to participate in the political process than voting--complaining about the slate of choices, for instance, is a sacred American right and duty--that also make you less complicit in the inevitable bad outcome. As I wrote in a 2012 reason story: "There are some good reasons for some people to vote some of the time. But there are a lot more bad reasons to vote, and the bad ones are more popular."

Which major-party candidate do you find most alarming? Trump is more alarming, but I am also alarmed at the extent to which he has wrecked the curve for alarm. In other words: I find it alarming that people aren't more alarmed by Clinton.

Who did you vote for in 2012? Didn't.

What will you miss most about the Obama years? I like the exhausted resignation that comes at the end of a president's second term. Everyone's expectations are appropriately calibrated and their cynicism is firmly in place. A new president means new flareups of hope and panic across the spectrum on the issues I care most about, including criminal justice reform, drug legalization, deregulation, entitlement reform, privacy, and government spending.

BOB BARR

Bob Barr, a former congressman, was the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee in 200S.

Who are you voting for? Still undecided.

Which major-party candidate do you find most alarming?

The jury is still out on this close call.

Who did you vote for in 2012? Romney.

What will you miss most about the Obama years? Joe Biden's gaffes.

MATT WELCH

Editor at Large Matt Welch is co-author of The Declaration of Independents (Public Affairs). From 2013 to 2015, he co-hosted The Independents on the Fox Business Network.

Who are you voting for? Gary Johnson, because I am a libertarian.

Which major-party candidate do you find most alarming? Donald Trump. On policy alone, he wants a bigger infrastructure stimulus/boondoggle than Hillary Clinton, wants to do a considerably more thorough job of dismantling the global tariff-reduction system, is much more explicit about punishing American companies who would dare to move their businesses overseas, and would mount up an even larger and more dangerous pile of national debt. He also has supported deporting an estimated 4 million U.S. citizens, ripping up the international visa/travel system, and establishing a religious test for travel to America. He's an ignoramus about basic policy facts, lies even more readily than Clinton (and that's saying something), and has introduced a National Front-style politics that I naively thought would never stick on U.S. soil.

Who did you vote for in 2012? Gary Johnson, very happily.

What will you miss most about the Obama years? I'll miss The Independents. Which, in addition to being one helluva good cable news program, pointed toward what I think might be a better future for political...