Signs posted at a Libertarian Party campaign event in New Orleans on Sunday asked supporters to keep six feet of distance from each other, so we can have the government leave us alone!

The request nodded to politicking in the coronavirus era and to the principles of a party that usually trails a distant third or fourth in presidential elections.

As storm clouds threatened a park across from City Hall, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen made her pitch for why the dwindling cohort of voters who havent decided on Donald Trump or Joe Biden should choose her instead.

For those who are in traditionally blue or red states, I say your vote is wasted, Jorgensen said. Vote for what you really want.

Jorgensen, a psychology instructor at Clemson University and a longtime party activist, ran as the Libertarian vice presidential candidate in 1996, claiming 0.5% of the popular vote. In 2016, Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson took about 3% nationally and 2% in Louisiana.

Jorgensen doesnt have the same name recognition as Johnson, who was previously the Republican governor of New Mexico. Perhaps her biggest media bump has been for canceling a Saturday campaign event for an unusual reason.

I will be getting a rabies vaccine as a precaution after having been bitten by a bat near the start of this campaign tour," she explained on Twitter.

But she was still greeted with cheers from the 130 people who gathered in Duncan Plaza. Some wore face masks and kept the requested six feet from each other. Others did not.

Brian Dorminy, 43-year-old from Baton Rouge, opted for a pelican print to cover his nose and mouth. He said he gradually grew alienated from the two major parties and started voting Libertarian in 2012.

Its definitely a different feeling Dorminy said of attending a campaign event during the pandemic. It actually feels more important now than ever. We need to be having these communal conversations about the direction of our country.

Jorgensen argued that Libertarians have something to offer voters who are concerned about the two issues that have dominated 2020, the coronavirus pandemic and police violence.

The death of Breonna Taylor during a police raid in Louisville showed why no-knock warrants should be banned, Jorgensen said. She also called for an end to the racist war on drugs. We cannot claim to be the land of the free when we lead the world in incarceration, Jorgensen said.

When it came to public health, she argued that early on in the outbreak, the FDA got in the way of stopping the coronavirus by preventing private tests from being offered. She also spoke out against single-payer health care. The alternative to our current big government failure isnt an even bigger big government failure, Jorgensen said.

Some of Jorgensens most enthusiastic applause from the crowd, however, came for proposals that have been Libertarian goals since long before 2020: dismantling the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and eliminating the personal income tax.

The event was cut short when rain started pouring. Jorgensen strolled back to her bus for a campaign tour of Texas as her supporters dashed for their cars.

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Libertarians gather to hear presidential candidate make pitch: 'Vote for what you really want' - NOLA.com