John McAfee is officially entering the presidential race. He announced via YouTube today that he is joining the crowded 2016 race, but will be doing so under his own newly-created political party, the Cyber Party.
McAfee is kind of a wild guy (to put it lightly), and I certainly don’t think policy-making is the right role for him. That being said, if you can look past the bizarre green screen action… and the cheesy background music… and his overly verbose script, you’re left with a guy who probably has good intentions and just doesn’t feel like the things that are important to him are being addressed.
Text on the Cyber Party’s site reads:
There is a fundamental misunderstanding about the role of technology in the United States. Invading your privacy doesn’t protect your freedom.
The goal of the Cyber Party is quite simple: we aim to speed up the rate the federal government adopts new technology, without sacrificing American freedom and privacy.
It’s really a shame that McAfee is the guy who has to reintroduce these topics regarding government surveillance into the national conversation. McAfee may not be a “serious” candidate, but he’s certainly grabbing more headlines than Rand Paul who has seen his popularity dip to non-competitive levels in the past several months.
Rand Paul got into a sparring match with Chris Christie about the surveillance state at the last Republican Candidates’ National Debate in early August, but since then things have been awfully quiet in the media regarding the topic.
McAfee is trying to raise awareness through the Cyber Party, but sadly he may end up doing more harm than good for the issue, given the guy’s pretty bizarre antics and his reputation for paranoia.