Thread: Gary Johnson

I confess I looked him up because of seeing some posts about him... hadn't heard of him yet. I have to say from the surface he looks good. I haven't watched him speak yet or gone into too much detail about his past. I hope he can push his way into some debates and get recognized (even though neither GOP or Dems would want it to happen). If Ron Paul doesn't go independent I will vote for Johnson. I'm tired o

My understanding is he won't be in the debates unless he has 15% nationwide support. So even though he's on the ballot in all 50 states and has more executive experience than Romney (more than Obama for that matter, although 8 years as gov of New Mexico probably isn't the same as 3+ years as POTUS), he'll stay way under the radar.

I like him on some issues and think he's nuts on others. I might throw my vote to him but he does have some problems. I met him in Florida in January. Nice enough guy. Kinda intense.

I hope a lot of people do vote Johnson, it will send a clear and strong message. I think Romney understands what needs to be done, with or without this message, but a certain point the other side needs to stop using the word extremist to describe economic leadership in tough times.

Originally Posted by fatbeer

I hope a lot of people do vote Johnson, it will send a clear and strong message. I think Romney understands what needs to be done, with or without this message, but a certain point the other side needs to stop using the word extremist to describe economic leadership in tough times.

Is "economic leadership" another way of saying tax cuts for the wealthy?

I don't want to derail the post, I like a lot of about Gary Johnson. I really hope he is able to get enough support to get his message out. It would be great to have him in the debates on several issues, especially on the issue of the insanity of the drug war and a different way of looking at foreign policy.

Originally Posted by gunnarthor

My understanding is he won't be in the debates unless he has 15% nationwide support..

This makes me angry. He's on the ballot, he should be in the debates, as should anyone else on the ballot. How this doesn't constitute election fixing is beyond me.

I should note, sans a Ron Paul run, I'll be voting for Johnson. Honestly, I think Ron Paul should torpedo the Republican Party and endorse Johnson. Obama is a lousy option, but I'd argue that Romney with what will likely be a Republican congress, will be much worse.

Ah yes, good old libertarians, it all sounds good in theory but would never work in this country.

He has a few good points, especially the drug ****, but other then that he won't garner enough votes to really matter. Obama is easily going to win this election unless something absolutely drastic happens in the next couple months.

Originally Posted by drjim

Originally Posted by fatbeer

I hope a lot of people do vote Johnson, it will send a clear and strong message. I think Romney understands what needs to be done, with or without this message, but a certain point the other side needs to stop using the word extremist to describe economic leadership in tough times.

Is "economic leadership" another way of saying tax cuts for the wealthy?

No it's a way of saying make the unmotivated motivated, or make the unmotivated suffer, we're pro choice you know.

Third party runs can work, but even a meaningful candidate has less then 1% chance of contending. Ron Paul is taking the easier path as crazy as it seems. Endorsing Johnson would erase all the work he's done these last 4+ years, and would only gain Johnson 5% at best, which would also give him momentum that he could try to take advantage of. The process is the process you really can't get around it, at last in a political way.

Originally Posted by SpiritofVodkaDave

Ah yes, good old libertarians, it all sounds good in theory but would never work in this country.

He has a few good points, especially the drug ****, but other then that he won't garner enough votes to really matter. Obama is easily going to win this election unless something absolutely drastic happens in the next couple months.

Not to bust your bubble, but it was libertarian principles that this country was founded on, and it worked quite well. What has changed is that his country has moved away from those principles, and we have had many more problems to go with it.

Originally Posted by fatbeer

Third party runs can work, but even a meaningful candidate has less then 1% chance of contending. Ron Paul is taking the easier path as crazy as it seems. Endorsing Johnson would erase all the work he's done these last 4+ years, and would only gain Johnson 5% at best, which would also give him momentum that he could try to take advantage of. The process is the process you really can't get around it, at last in a political way.

I'm not so sure about this. Endorsing Johnson sends a message to the Republican Party that they can no longer continue to marginalize the libertarian minded Republicans which make up a sizable portion of their base. Yeah, the Republicans might not want to play nice with Ron Paul (not that they really have anyways), but doing so would force them to come to grips with what he has built. He could quickly become the most powerful man in the Republican party.