Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver speaks against two-party system at Iowa State Fair
Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver spoke asked for Iowa voters to support the Libertarian Party at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
by Robin Opsahl, Iowa Capital Dispatch
August 10, 2024
While major changes have shaken the 2024 presidential race in recent weeks, Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver said at the Iowa State Fair Saturday it was important for voters to show their opposition to the two-party system regardless of who tops the ticket.
When the Libertarian presidential candidate visited the Iowa State Fair in 2023, he told the crowd about the unpopularity of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, then the presumptive major party nominees for the 2024 presidential election. While Trump has since officially been nominated as the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, Biden dropped out of the race in July. The president, who won overwhelming in Democratic nominating contests, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidential nomination after announcing he would not seek reelection.
The Democratic National Committee announced Monday that Harris had secured 99% of delegate support to become the Democratic presidential nominee ahead of the Democratic National Convention later in August.
In his previous visit, Oliver, 38, contrasted himself with Biden and Trump as a young candidate offering a fresh perspective when voters had concerns about the age and divisiveness of the two leading candidates, who had also competed in the 2020 election. But just because the Democratic presidential nominee has changed “doesn’t mean that the rhetoric that comes out of the Democratic Party has changed,” Oliver said.
“I feel comfortable that we’re still going to be providing a real alternative to what the two-party system has given us, even if the top of the ticket is now Kamala Harris and not Joe Biden,” Oliver told reporters. “My Democratic opponent is now a couple decades younger than my Democratic opponent was a couple weeks ago, but I’m still ready to be the first millennial candidate, and put a new and exciting message out there for voters.”
Oliver spoke about his opposition to the use of eminent domain for building carbon dioxide pipelines, support for drug legalization and his commitment for making government less “intrusive” during his speech at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox. As he spoke to the crowd, he also called for people to support the Libertarian Party of Iowa and Libertarian candidates running in the state — like 1st Congressional District Nicholas Gluba, who spoke at the soapbox earlier Saturday.
Oliver is the only presidential candidate scheduled to speak at the state fair this year — a stark contrast to 2023, when 14 presidential hopefuls, largely GOP candidates, descended on the fair in the lead-up to the 2024 Iowa caucuses. There was one other third-party candidate who planned to speak at the soapbox Saturday, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who canceled his appearance earlier this week because of “increased security concerns,” according to the Des Moines Register.
Projections by FiveThirtyEight find that Harris is slightly ahead of Trump in national polls at 45.7% to 43.4% as of Aug. 10, with Kennedy receiving 5.1%. Oliver is not ranked in most of the compiled polls.
Oliver gained national prominence for his 2022 Senate candidacy in Georgia, a campaign some political analysts said led to the runoff between Georgia Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and GOP challenger Herschel Walker. While some critics said Libertarian and other third-party candidates act as a “spoiler” in elections, Oliver said that “the thing that is actually spoiled rotten to the core is the two-party system as it exists.” He called for states to implement ranked-choice voting systems that he said would help create more “civil” elections and would give voters the ability to support third-party candidates without feeling as though their vote is wasted.
Oliver said supporting his campaign — and supporting the Libertarian Party — is a better way of opposing the two-party system than supporting other alternatives like Kennedy.
“If you want to invest in building up a true challenge for the two-party system, voting for the Libertarian candidate is better than voting for RFK, because RFK is a one-and-done candidate,” Oliver said. “He will run in this election, if he does not win — poof, he’s gone in most every state. … But if you vote for me, you’re investing in Libertarian Party. You’re investing in ballots access wins, major party status wins, and that goes beyond me.”
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