CNN's Libertarian Townhall

Well, guys. It's happened. The Libertarian Party took up an hour and fifteen minutes of CNN's prime time real estate in a much-needed townhall. Governors Gary Johnson (NM) and Bill Weld (MA) took difficult and nuanced questions and did an adequate job of presenting the Libertarian package.

I say adequate because - god love him - Gary will simply never be a slick orator. He's a bit awkward. He's a bit jumpy. His mind works on all cylinders and 100 miles an hour. Those of us familiar with him love him anyway. Newbies might be turned off. But for all his oratory deficiencies, his running mate Bill Weld is an effective, coherent, and eloquent salesman of the Party's ideas.

In fact, Weld was the Belle of the Ball, in my opinion. He knows how to talk to people who are used to the 'two party' talking points in a way Gary isn't comfortable. And I think he is likely the one the 'on the fencers'  will find resonance with. They might even wonder why he's not the top of the ticket. Well, the answer is that what Gary lacks in delivery he more than makes up for in record and action.

All manner of topics were discussed from abortion to drugs to foreign policy to trade to tax. It was the most well rounded Prime Time political event this election cycle. I'm happy. I think people need to get a good idea of where Libertarians stand on these key issues. The downside is that nuances didn't always get adequately articulated.

The Townhall structure is tricky too. In one question a woman who's son was injured while taking heroin demanded to know how the governors could possibly support legalizing drugs. This became an awkward exchange on an issue Gary should have excelled. What he should have said was, 'Your son managed to easily find and buy heroin even as it is currently illegal and the subject of a multibillion-dollar war on drugs, so obviously that is not working.' But, no doubt, that would seem callous so he could not answer that way very easily.

Another missed opportunity was with #BlackLivesMatter. Gary Johnson has, many times, made the case that he understands how black people (men in particular) are not only targeted but disproportionately convicted and incarcerated. But that never got mentioned.

Where they excelled was in immigration and healthcare. In minutes they took down every aspect of Trump's absurd Immigration proposals (including mass deportations). Also, for the first time in this election cycle they brought up price transparency and competition in healthcare which is a key problem to the with healthcare prices. On the economy they were nearly flawless, but that was so expected it barely registered.

The main take-away, I think, can be best explained by one of my mid-Townhall tweets:

It was a great opportunity to showcase The Party and it wasn't without mistakes, but I don't see how anyone can possibly come away thinking any less of Gary Johnson or Bill Weld. They offered more common sense discussion of topics than all the other Townhalls combined.