User:Acidskater/sandbox/Austin Petersen Campaign

The Austin Petersen Presidential Campaign, 2016 began when Austin Petersen declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party (LP) nomination for President of the United States on October 27, 2015.

Background
Austin Wade Petersen is a Libertarian activist, political commentator and strategist, journalist, executive producer, CEO, actor, and 2016 Libertarian candidate for President of the United States. He is been a frequent guest on political talk shows on Fox News, Fox Business, and RT.

Petersen was born in Independence, Missouri to farmers Donna Petersen (née Magness) and John D. Petersen. Raised on a horse farm in Peculiar, Missouri, his mother died when Petersen was 15 years old. She was a victim of diluted prescriptions from pharmacist Robert Courtney, who was convicted of pharmaceutical fraud and is currently incarcerated in federal prison. Petersen earned a degree in Musical Theatre from Missouri State University. He moved to New York City to pursue a career in writing, producing, directing, and acting. While there, he performed in plays, modeled, and appeared in magazines and commercials. He worked his way up to management at FAO Schwarz where he participated in a Christmas special episode of the Conan O’Brien Show.

In 2008, Petersen became interested in politics after discovering Ron Paul, 2008 Presidential Candidate. His experience in grassroots activist coordination began when he co-founded the NYC Ron Paul Meet Up Club. As a result, he was hired as Director of Outreach and Affiliations at the U.S. National Libertarian Party headquarters in Washington, D.C. Petersen accepted a position as New Media Program Manager at Atlas Economic Research Foundation. He moved to New York City in 2010 to serve as Associate Producer for Freedom Watch, the daily libertarian talk show on Fox Business Network, hosted by former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice, Judge Andrew Napolitano. After the show was canceled in 2012, Petersen returned to Washington D.C. as Director of Interactive Media at FreedomWorks, a libertarian advocacy group he represented as a commentator on political talk shows.

In 2012, Petersen created “The Libertarian Republic ,” an online magazine that focuses on libertarian issues. As CEO of Stonegait, he is an executive consultant specializing in video services and strategies for political campaigns and brands. An advocate of the Second Amendment, he organized The Libertarian Republic's 2013 Toy Gun March For Charity in Washington, D.C.

Campaign
In 2015, with the failure of the Rand Paul campaign, for which he had been a strong supporter, Petersen declared his candidacy to seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party for President of the United States. He tapped in to his Fox Business Network connections to initiate the first ever, nationally televised, Libertarian Party Presidential debate alongside fellow Libertarians former Governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson and John McAfee, former developer of the popular anti-virus software, broadcast on April 1, 2016 on the John Stossel Show.

Petersen has publicly rejected the Non-aggression principle, which is controversial topic in the Libertarian Party as some Libertarians argue it is part of the foundation of the party.