Liberty Maven

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.