Guest Post: Who Is Gary Johnson?
You few remaining readers may know my friend Anton from his comments here, especially on basketball related posts. Well, he’s been turning his finely tuned mind to matters political these days, and for a school assignment, he’s writing some posts that I will be publishing here. Enjoy.
- MZ
Who Is Gary Johnson?
-Anton
Any day now, Gary Johnson will be announcing his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. Who is Gary Johnson? Well, he was the governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003. He cut taxes and the size of government and promoted a school voucher program. He balanced the budget, leaving the state with a 1 billion dollar budget surplus. He competently handled the devastating 2000 Cerro Grande Fire and was called an excellent leader by Democratic congressmen Tom Udall. Johnson never raised taxes over his 8 years in charge and started his own construction business that made him a multi-millionaire.
So what’s the problem here? Well there are a few roadblocks to a Gary Johnson candidacy. First, he has very little name recognition and does not poll very well. He has been out of politics for a few years and will have trouble raising money.
Second, he may be way too reality-based for the current republican electorate. You don’t hear him spouting birther theories or calling Obama a socialist. He has a longstanding respect for civil rights. His skepticism towards foreign wars puts him at odds with the majority of today’s republicans. Further, support for marijuana legalization and gay marriage puts him on the wrong side of social conservatives. Johnson himself used pot for pain control after a 2005 paragliding accident nearly killed him. This brings us to the third problem: the mainstream media has essentially deemed him ‘the pot candidate’. Almost every article about Johnson prominently features his position on marijuana and/or past use.
Is there a path to victory for Gary Johnson? Doubtful. A Ron Paul endorsement would go a long way towards raising his name recognition and viability. Johnson’s record seems to be something that the supposedly libertarian tea party would love. However in reality, I suspect the tea party is just not serious enough to endorse such a responsible and credible candidate. It’s a shame.
