The Libertarian Party Radical Caucus is pleased to present our first round of ratings for declared presidential hopefuls. All candidates were (and still are) invited to complete our survey, which was combined with additional research by members of the endorsements committee to generate scoring.
The committee rated candidates on five broad criteria, each with an assigned weight, on a scale of 1 to 10.
The first, LPRC Compliance, is intended to cover the degree to which the candidates’ responses and public statements align to the goals, values, and platform of the LPRC. This metric represents 60% of the overall candidate rating. The lowest score would apply to a candidate we believe to be marginally libertarian, and the highest score would be a perfect match. If we had a late entrant advocating similar policies to those of Biden or Trump, it would blow up our model and we would have to revisit all of these scores.
Appeal is the label applied to how well the candidate presents, and their likelihood of attracting new members to the LP. The committee mostly confined ratings to post-announcement behavior.
The Materials rating is used to consider the quality of materials, including the website, socials, and any photos of physical materials. Prominence of the word “Libertarian” in materials was also taken into account.
Lastly, the committee considered Effort to include the activity level of the campaign and sharing of contacts with national and state parties.
Scoring of each committee member in each section was then averaged to provide the final scores. Listed in alphabetical order:
LPRC Score: 3.2
We appreciate that he clearly identifies as a Libertarian and would certainly move the country in a better direction.
LPRC Score: 5.3
He's recruited a large grassroots campaign team, materials are professional, and has good advertising presence.
LPRC Score: 7.1
Overall the committee is impressed with his campaign organization, sharing of data with state parties, passion and presentation.
LPRC Score: 6.5
We appreciate that he is running a principled campaign, and that there is a high level of activity.
LPRC Score: 6.6
We see his campaign as principled and he comes across well both in debate appearances and in person.
Aggregated Scoring
