Liberty MavenRon Paul Liberty Torch To Be Handed To Gary Johnson?
November 8th, 2008 1:53 pm | by Marc Gallagher | Published in Activism, Big Government, campaign for liberty, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Drugs, Economics, Election, Free Market, Libertarianism, Liberty, Maven Commentary, Politics, Ron Paul, Taxes | 21 Responses
Gary Johnson
Make no mistake, Ron Paul lit the flames of liberty under a small but active percentage of the American populace about one year ago. At this point last year the Ron Paul faithful were drunk on hope after the first highly successful money bomb brought in millions of dollars in a single day. Now that Barack Obama is our President-Elect and Ron Paul is focused on continuing his freedom education and liberty activism effort through the Campaign For Liberty, talk of a 2012 Ron Paul Republican Presidential candidate has begun in earnest.
One of the most popular choices to carry forward the Ron Paul liberty torch is former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. There is certainly a lot to like about Gary Johnson and he may very well be the best choice for 2012. However, investigating Gary Johnson a bit deeper does reveal some cracks in his freedom armor. I don’t find these cracks significant enough for me to not support him, but then again I supported Bob Barr for President, so I’m used to “cracks”.
These cracks may cause some Liberty Maven readers to reject supporting him. We hope to rate Johnson on the Paul-O-Meter within a few days, so that will give a more complete picture of Johnson. Until then let us discuss some of his potential negatives to the cause of liberty and the viability of him running for the Republican nomination.
One Issue Candidate – Drug War
Johnson, during his second term as New Mexico’s Governor came out strongly against the War on Drugs. This is what he is best known for. This is an excellent place to be from a libertarian perspective, but this is now Johnson’s one issue cross to bear. It happens to be viewed by many main streamers as complete doom for any politician. It gives Johnson’s opponents a ready made attack ad. The positive side of this is that if Johnson chose to run, it would make this one of the top discussed issues during the primaries (at least). It would also earn him votes from probably 100% of the pro-medicinal marijuana activists and supporters.
A related, but perhaps less of a negative is that Johnson has admitted to using various drugs when he was younger. There will likely be just as many supporters of him for this as detractors, perhaps more on the support side because it reveals that Johnson is honest. You won’t hear Johnson claiming he didn’t inhale.
Since this has been Johnson’s “pet” issue it may be difficult for him to turn the debate toward other topics during his campaign. Think of Tom Tancredo’s 2007 primary run where he was all about stopping illegal immigration and little else. Johnson would have to make a concerted effort not to turn into 2012′s Tom Tancredo.
Questions Regarding Voting Record
Johnson was sometimes referred to as “Veto Johnson” while Governor. That is music to many Ron Paul supporter’s ears who will immediately think of Paul’s own “Dr. No” moniker. Unfortunately, there is at least one vote that should concern Paul supporters and libertarians.
Ron Paul takes pride in saying that he would never vote to regulate the Internet, even in the case of perceived “positive” regulation such as Net Neutrality. Likewise, Paul refuses to regulate the “bad” or “obscene” things on the Internet. In essence, he wholeheartedly supports the First amendment of the Constitution. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for Gary Johnson.
The ACLU brought a suit against the state of New Mexico and Gary Johnson in 1998 for signing a bill that makes it a crime to disseminate material over the Internet that is “harmful to a minor.” In fact, according to the ACLU web site the law was blocked via judicial order on Constitutional grounds. While this law was likely lauded by “family values” Republicans it is obviously a major problem for strict Constitutionalist libertarians.
Johnson is also a big proponent of school vouchers, which take tax money and distribute it to school age families to help pay for schooling. However, It is unclear if he would support such a program at the federal level.
Desire To Run
At this embryonic point in the 2012 liberty Presidential search it is unclear if Gary Johnson will even throw his hat into the ring. he has stated on several occasions that his stance on the drug war prohibits him from ever seeking higher office. He also turned down efforts and offers from libertarians to run for the Libertarian Presidential nomination. However, his competitive spirit cannot be questioned. He is an avid triathlete and has scaled Mount Everest.
There have been reports that Johnson has said he would run in 2012 if Barack Obama was elected. Well, if true, Johnson would have to go back on his word of not ever entering the political fray again. If Johnson were to run he wouldn’t do it half way. It seems he hasn’t done anything half way in his entire life. He started his own company, grew it to over a thousand employees. He was elected Governor of New Mexico as a Republican (New Mexico is 2 to 1 Democratic) twice. But does he have the desire to run? That is the golden question only he can answer.
Conclusion
It would be very difficult for me to not support Johnson if he were to run for President in 2012. As of right now, In my view he is the best positioned candidate to carry forward the message of liberty within the Republican Party. He may not be perfect on specific issues here or there, but Ron Paulians would be hard pressed to find another Republican candidate with his record and political viability. He served as a Governor for eight years. He didn’t raise taxes as Governor once. He promoted private business and free markets over government corporatism and regulation. Finally, and perhaps most pertinent, he enthusiastically endorsed Ron Paul for President. In doing so he gave us more than a hint of how he feels about foreign policy.
“I am endorsing Ron Paul for the Republican nomination for president because of his commitment to less government, greater liberty, and lasting prosperity for America. We are at a point in this country where we need to reduce our dependency on government and regain control of our future. To this end, Ron Paul will bring back troops, end the War in Iraq, and will strengthen the U.S. dollar and the economy. For these reasons and more, Ron Paul has my support, respect, and vote.”
At this (somewhat early) point in the 2012 campaign for President, Gary Johnson has my support. Yes, I realize he hasn’t agreed to run and it is only days since Obama was elected. However, we who thirst for liberty are always looking toward the future, partly because the present seems so bleak, and partly because our thirst remains unquenched.
Even with his confusing vote on regulating Internet “speech” back in 1998, I still hope that Gary Johnson agrees to take Ron Paul’s liberty torch. It’s never too early to stand on the side of freedom.
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November 8th, 2008 at 2:28 pm (#)
The important thing for Republicans in opposition to the Obama administration will be an anti-interventionist foreign policy and enforcing constitutional limits on the Federal Government, including all of the Bill of Rights, Separation of Powers, and Powers Retained by the States. The Party will have to be a big tent on social issues to bring in both the disaffected who have gravitated towards the Libertarian and Constitution Parties. The best platform to hold these elements together is to agree most such issues should be decided by each state for itself. Where does Gary Johnson stand on foreign and military policy and the Patriot Act? This will define whether he can lead the Ron Paul forces in the next election.
Earlier battles of equal importance – elevating Walter Jones or another member of the Liberty Caucus into the House GOP Leadership, and election of Jeff Flake to John McCain’s Senate seat in 2010.
November 8th, 2008 at 4:52 pm (#)
Yeah, sure, and pigs got wings:
Follow.
If the economy doesn’t tank, rather, it improves, and we get out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and those nations don’t explode (well, like so what? even if they do, as we did in Vietnam after we left, we ignored what happened in 1973-75)
and no other uncertainty or circumstance comes to bite Obama–like say some “Gate”, then anyone who runs against him in 2012 will be destroyed, as in Clinton v Dole or LBJ v Goldwater. And if, mind you, the George Noory/Art Bell/ayan Calendar nonsense doesn’t pan out (as in the End or some big change) then the second Obama term will lead to the second coming of…Hillary. And just as Bush Sr followed Reagan (and if Obama has popularity rating in 2016 like Bill Clinton’s in 1999 or 2000) then it will be one long time before anyone like the current Mew Mexico Governor or anyone else with a high Paulometer reading will be elected–indeed, the Revolution may have been the Obama Revolution and not the Paul one.
If this is the case, then the Campaign for Liberty and the rest of it is futile–resistance to the new Great Communicator is futile–
My great disagreement with the libertarians, good economists all, God bless them, just like their anti-Federalist forefathers, is that they concentrate on the trivial issues–like force. Machiavelli noted that a man gets further along with fraud and deceit (meaning persuasion by speeches, like say, um, Obama) than by force (like say, the gun toting IRS agents) And old Nick was no fool. You people will have to engage in the dirty busness of politics–a thing that the all too pure anti-Federalists failed to do, indeed, they lost because they couldn’t communicate, couldn’t argue the demerits of that bundle of compromises known as the Constitution. And here’s the rub–at the time, the Congress under the Articles had the force, but were argued out of using that force, which force could have been used to make Madison and co toe the line at merely reforming and not rewriting the Articles–If you point your IRS gun at me, and if I am able to persuade you in speech, just like Socrates, to put down that gun and join me, then that gun is exposed as not some animate object doing the State’s bidding, but that it is a tool used by the persuadable human weilding it.
But all many libertarians see are the guns–they skip over what is called in military science, morale. And you do not have to break morale by firepower–just by a little force, even no force, with persuasion–I give you all a reading assignement, to study Machiavelli’s idea that all unarmed prophets succeed.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:01 pm (#)
Would it help if he came back to New Mexico and ran for Congressional District 1 as a warm-up. We’re ready, Gary, come on home.
November 9th, 2008 at 4:03 am (#)
I’m all about a Gary Johnson run. In fact, I just posted a suggested to support candidates like Johnson, ie: Johnson 2012, to help rebuild the party.
http://ideas.rebuildtheparty.com/pages/general/suggestions/66714
Politicians see Johnson’s drug war stance as a liability. I don’t. Americans are coming around on this issue.
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/86982/
An update to that article is this election. 5 states passed referendums softening drug laws against marijuana: either legalizing or expanding medical marijuana in the state, or decriminalizing marijuana or making marijuana the lowest priority of law enforcement.
The people are way ahead of the politicians on this issue. A candidate who can recognize this and take advantage of it could potentially catapult himself to victory. I agree with the assessment that Johnson would need to avoid this becoming the single issue of his campaign. If I were him, I would never mention it, just because you know he’ll be asked about it plenty. He should focus on the things he did as governor of New Mexico relating to utilizing the free market to reduce state spending, etc.
November 9th, 2008 at 2:07 pm (#)
We need to prepare early guys! Money bombs for his campaign every time Obama signs bad legislation!
November 9th, 2008 at 10:05 pm (#)
[...] the Gary Johnson 2012 Facebook group. As of this writing the group is up to 88 members. You can read more about my assessment of Gary Johnson here. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “The Next Ron Paul, Gary Johnson Confirms Interest In 2012 [...]
November 10th, 2008 at 7:07 am (#)
[...] a former Governor of New Mexico pick up the torch of the Campaign for Liberty ? Make no mistake, Ron Paul lit the flames of liberty [...]
November 10th, 2008 at 4:24 pm (#)
[...] Ron Paul Liberty Torch To Be Handed To Gary Johnson? [...]
November 12th, 2008 at 1:22 pm (#)
As Ron Paul pointed out in his first interview after the election, Obama was already pre-selected as the winner, with McCain as a back-up Plan B. Two major party candidates only — none others existed in the media’s eyes, which influenced the uninformed, clueless voters.
How do you plan to get around the corporate elite’s vise-like grip on the whole election process?
With the secretive and unauditable electronic voting we currently are forced to use, how do you plan on circumventing the tampering and rigging that will surely go on against any sort of threat to the status quo, just as it did in the primaries with Ron Paul and the third party votes in the election?
Heck, yeah, I’d vote for Gary Johnson. But would my vote count?
September 25th, 2009 at 2:58 am (#)
Although I like Ron Paul I think he should step aside to let Johnson take charge in 2012, because Johnson more marketable. Now I don't want to throw Ron Paul under the bus, but if Johnson is elected he would be considered the starter of the Constitution Revolution. He would be thought of in history as the guy who really started the Constitution movement. Now I think Johnson should just go for the Fair Tax and say we'll put it at 15%.
October 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm (#)
Check Gary Johnson's page at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
October 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm (#)
Check Gary Johnson's page at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
October 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm (#)
Check Gary Johnson's page at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
October 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm (#)
Check Gary Johnson's page at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
October 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm (#)
Check Gary Johnson's page at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
October 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm (#)
Check Gary Johnson's page at http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
October 28th, 2009 at 8:02 am (#)
[...] Immediately after Barack Obama won the election last November I published an article revealing my own rather cursory investigation of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. I wanted to know more about him because I thought he had the potential to be a viable liberty-loving Presidential candidate in 2012. While I did discover some potential chinks in his armor, I concluded with the following: [...]
November 21st, 2009 at 2:51 am (#)
Ron Paul himself voted for Chuck Baldwin in 2008 as POTUS. What would that ticket Paul/Baldwin look like? Since Baldwin never held a public office and is a minister in FL, maybe he is not the best for highest public office in the land. But I never heard of Gov Johnson until now.
November 21st, 2009 at 9:51 pm (#)
Many libertarians agree with Gov Johnson on School Vouchers. Most Americans believe in public education, so making a provision that enables people to send their children to private schools in lieu of the government schools is a necessary reform that will happen long before we get government completely out of education.
February 6th, 2010 at 12:14 am (#)
[...] out there to pickup where Paul leaves off in former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. Johnson appears to be interested in running, and he lines up with Paul the vast majority of the time. Furthermore, he is from the [...]
December 29th, 2011 at 4:24 pm (#)
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