I am going to be interviewing Libertarian Vice Presidential Candidate Spike Cohen

Hi everyone I am going to be interviewing Libertarian Vice Presidential Candidate Spike Cohen on August 12th, 2020 at 3pm. So far from what I know the campaign is very pro 2A in fact they believe all restrictions are an infringement on our rights.

If you want to watch it I will be sharing the link in the coming days.

I want to get your thoughts as I am trying to ask meaningful questions during the interview especially about 2A and I wanted some ideas from you guys. I plan to send these questions to the campaign in preparation for the interview. Do you guys/gals have any questions (they don’t have to be 2A exclusively.) that you want to see a Presidential candidate answer?

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@I_am_Harry “pro 2A” to me means “proctive”… which even the Republicans in Washington are NOT. We are always on the defensive. I have contributed quite a bit of my own money to grassroots efforts. I am paying taxes, that should be enough to guarantee my rights as a citizen. Ask Mr. Cohen exactly how proactive he will be in office. Not looking for people pandering to the 2A community for votes.

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That is a great question. I will note that down.

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The libertarian party wants to eliminate victimless crime and release those convicted. Recreational drug use is a victimless crime… can you really be pro 2A and pro recreational drug use? I mean I get that you support both, but do you think that one could could be detrimental to the other? Firearms, meth, and opiates don’t really work well together…

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That’s a fair question to ask. Since the Libertarians believe in small government I think states would regulate it as choice that a person does like they do marijuana now. For example in AZ if you use Marijuana you cannot carry.

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@I_am_Harry.

What does he think it would take for the Libertarian Party to be a viable electable alternative to the Democrats or Republicans? As it stands right now the Libertarian Party has not been a viable alternative for a long time.

Everytime I vote Libertarian, it feels like either a wasted vote or a Democrat vote as the Libertarian Party aligns more closely to my Republican view points. The Republican party at least pays lip service to issues important to me.

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I know its not specifically 2A, but can you please ask about their support for the BLM and ANTIFA as well as defunding the police. I have seen some very concerning things that they support those movements.

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2A questions…

As others have mentioned, what will Cohen do in being proactive in rolling back some of the restrictions on the federal level. National CCW reciprocity, resurrect the Hearing Protection Act, Constitutional Carry, reeling in the ATF, etc.

Does Cohen have a plan for the next time there is a mass shooting and there is another million person march on the capital asking for laws that won’t stop any other mass shootings?

NON-2A Questions…

(please read carefully) What are the plans in regards to the BLM movement (the peaceful protest variety) in regards to looking at the valid grievances brought up (racial profiling, etc). How can we weed out the few bad cops, while supporting the many good cops? How can we get the mediocre cops to be good/great cops? With the negative view of police at the moment and the huge numbers of police leaving the force (retired, quit, etc) how do we re-establish a positive view of police and increase recruitment of future good cops.

(please read carefully) What are the plans in regards to the riots? What can be done at the federal level to stop them from rioting, especially considering mayors and governors have routinely been asking the Feds to GTFO? Some states (MN?) have asked for Federal monies (denied AFAIK) to help reconstruct after the riots, what is Cohen’s stance on that?

What are the plans in regard to COVID? Knowing that some folks are essentially immune (no symptoms), many folks have very mild symptoms, and some folks have severe symptoms including death. How can we safely re-open the country, restart the economy, without dooming X percent of the populace to the hospital or death? How can we ensure that first responders AND civilians have sufficient access to PPE so we can help keep each other safe not just for this pandemic, but for any future ones? How can we ensure the stability of supply chains so we dont run out of TP next time?

What are the plans on criminal reform? This is a very broad topic and touches on several others. The cycle of young poor (mostly urban, mostly minorities) having little options (ghetto school systems suck, no job prospects), so they resort to selling drugs, then end up getting felonies and going to jail, with a felony you have effectively zero chance of getting a good job, they father children who end up raised without a father because he went back to jail after selling more drugs because he cant get a job. The fatherless child then repeats his father’s mistakes and the cycle continues. This cycle in our urban centers results in most of the “gun violence” that isnt a suicide, most of the poverty in our country, most of the prisoners in our prison system, etc etc.

What are Cohen’s thoughts on some of the liberal talking points such as Healthcare for everyone (whatever flavor), and addressing climate change?

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“Your predecessor as the LP’s 2016 VP candidate, William Weld, supported gun control as the Governor of Massachusetts then switched positions to get the LP nomination. If the LP is willing to nominate a known anti-gun politician, how can we be sure that you and Jo will maintain a strongly pro-Second Amendment position once in office?”

“How do you reconcile Libertarian support for Black Lives Matter which, while understandable on issues like demilitarizing the police and eliminating racism, has an overall statist agenda? Aren’t you supporting a movement that, once you get below the surface, is antithetical to libertarian principles?”

“In your first 100 days in office, what pro-Second Amendment actions would your administration take that do not require agreement from Congress?”

“Likewise, in the first 100 days what would be your pro-Second Amendment legislative agenda?”

“Libertarians often get bogged down pursuing the most idealistic of libertarian (not necessarily platform) positions, such as eliminating a standing military in favor of militias; how will you avoid focusing on the idealistic In favor of practical measures that quickly bring us more individual freedom?”

“In states where the electoral college outcome is obvious (e.g., California going for Biden) it makes sense for voters to express their pro-Second Amendment support by voting for your ticket. But in swing states, that may lead to a less than desirable outcome (e.g., gun owners’ nightmare of a Joe Biden presidency); what is your advice for swing-state voters?”

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“Do you support constitutional carry?”

“Do you support nationwide reciprocity for concealed carry licenses, as we have with drivers licenses?”

BTW folks, the current LP platform is at Platform | Libertarian Party and does not appear to be as strongly pro-second amendment worded as I remember from years ago. In particular I would see it as silent on concealed carry, hence the above questions.

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All for their right to run and I consider myself more Libertarian than republican, but unfortunately, given how our elections work and the dominance of the 2 party system, A vote for anyone other than Trump this November is a vote against the 2A.

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Hey, @Zavier_D @Pabst11 @Brian139 @Harold26 @Levi2 @TexasEskimo thanks everyone for your input. I am going to compile some good questions from this and if you want me to use your screen name during the interview I can. If not I’ll keep it anonymous. By the way @Pabst11 welcome to the community.

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Thank you for this. You can use my screen name or not, as long as questions are asked. Information is the purpose!

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Apologies for the delayed response.

My question is: :thought_balloon: :thinking:

“As a pro 2A candidate, what will you be doing to better educate those that push for more gun control while championing change for good that is related to gun ownership. The current state of the country, with the rise in violence and other crimes, has resulted in month-over-month record gun sales and ammo shortages to those wanting to legally protect themselves. There is clearly a change coming with an increase of legally armed citizens that will help support gun rights and ownership. What are the issues you support and will be driving during your time in office?”

Feel free to use my screen name.

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Feel free to use my screen name @I_am_Harry. I would love to see a viable, electable 3rd party alternative that stood for smaller government, budgetary sanity, and a return to a Constitutional Republic.

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Hey @I_am_Harry If you use my questions, please keep anonymous :slight_smile:

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No worries.

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Same here, please.

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@I_am_Harry No problem here.

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Thank you.

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