Former NM Governor Gary Johnson Heading Toward Libertarian Presidential Nomination
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It is not the victory he dreamed about, but former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson appears to have locked up the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president.
Johnson last year began his run for the White House as a Republican. Instead, he will carry the banner of a 41-year-old third party that has never won a state in a presidential election.
Numerous Libertarians said in interviews that Johnson will steamroll to the nomination May 5 at the Libertarian Party convention in Las Vegas, Nev. “He’s going to be nominated on the first ballot, probably with 90 percent of the vote. Then he’s going to fall flat on his face, just as Bob Barr did,” said Bill Still of Virginia, also a Libertarian candidate for president.
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Hinkle, who lives in California, said he gives Johnson a chance to be competitive in the presidential race in one state - New Mexico.
“He was a two-term governor as a Republican in a state that traditionally votes for Democrats,” Hinkle said.
Political scientist Lonna Atkeson disagreed with that assessment.
“I don’t see Johnson making a dent in New Mexico,” she said.
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Johnson was governor from 1995 through 2002. He said fiscal responsibility was his strength, prompting him to veto 742 bills in those eight years. Friends and foes nicknamed him “Governor No.”
After a nine-year hiatus from politics, Johnson re-emerged in 2011.
[They should have spelled that “high-atus” —Ed.]
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Candidate Bill Still is resigned to Johnson being the Libertarian nominee, but he is not happy about it. Still said he regarded Johnson as slick, even packaged.
“He doesn’t really have a soul. He’s fed his lines,” Still said.
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I find that a lot of Libertarians lack a soul, or compassion, or something. Gary Johnson is worse than that:
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However, the biggest problem I have with Gary Johnson is his willingness to back Chuck Baldwin for president in 2008 (he endorsed Ron Paul, but voted for Chuck Baldwin), which helped the Constitution Party to gain ballot access in New Mexico.
Charles Johnson referred to Gary Johnson as ‘Ron Paul Lite’. As an indication of the aptness of that phrase, check out this group of freaks and bigots that Gary Johnson appeared with last March. ‘Lite’ only refers to how well-known and long-serving he is compared to Ron Paul. I don’t think he is any less of a nut.
He’s not a good Republican, he’s not a good Libertarian, maybe he can still be a good spoiler and keep Mitt from winning.