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The Spectacle Blog
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has been making the rounds in Washington libertarian and conservative circles this week, possibly in anticipation of a presidential bid in 2012. As I type this, The American Spectator and Americans for Tax Reform are hosting a Newsmaker event for him, but our omnipotent government cannot keep snow off the train tracks on a sunny day, so I was unable to go. Perhaps my colleagues who were in attendance can offer a different perspective, but it seems to me that Johnson has one advantage and one disadvantage over Ron Paul, the man Johnson supported for president in 2008.
The big advantage: Johnson was a governor and has wielded executive power. Not only do governors have a much better track record of being elected president than congressmen -- the last man to go straight from the House to the White House was James Garfield -- but it helps bolster the case for Johnson as a government-cutter. Ron Paul has an excellent record of fidelity to the Constitution, but often as someone casting votes on the losing side. Gary Johnson has actually vetoed legislation, forced budget cuts, and canceled programs.
The big disadvantage: Johnson is more permissive on abortion and immigration than Paul, more of a standard-issue libertarian. Not only will this complicate Johnson's ability to become the full-service paleo candidate the way Paul was, but it also will add to his differences with mainstream conservatives. Ron Paul ran into trouble in the Republican primaries just for opposing the Iraq war. Had he also been pro-choice and lax on borders, like Johnson, those problems would have been magnified.
Now, as governor of New Mexico Johnson did sign most pro-life legislation that came across his desk despite self-describing as pro-choice. As a constitutonalist, he is likely to take an anti-Roe position. But few paleo-sympathetic conservatives cut Rudy Giuliani much slack when he vowed to become operationally pro-life while clinging to the pro-choice label (I know I didn't). Granted, Johnson actually had an operationally pro-life record while Giuliani didn't, but it still strikes me as a tough sell politically.
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More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/02/11/gary-johnson-as-ron-pauls-succ
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Ben| 2.11.10 @ 2:58PM
I think as long as Johnson leaves abortion decisions to the states, and articulates the case for 10th amendment rights, there will not be a big issue. The immigration thing could create problems. Then again the hypocrisy can be shown related to how we protect the borders of countries we invade better than our own.
Bugler| 2.11.10 @ 3:13PM
Johnson seems like a serious and intelligent guy to me. No doubt his participation would spark some genuine policy debates that are sorely needed. Unless he supports control of immigration, though, he won't get more than the typical Libertarian vote.
Elwar| 2.11.10 @ 3:17PM
"He backs every piece of legislation we're for," says Dauneen Dolce, of the Right to Life Committee of New Mexico. That includes "parental consent," "informed consent," and bans on assisted suicide, partial-birth abortion, and Medicaid-funded abortion. Johnson didn't win the group's endorsement in 1994, but got it four years later.
ChrisCZ| 2.11.10 @ 6:41PM
Gary Johnson had an outstanding speech at the Rally for the Republic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2EhAVQS2V8
That speech caught my eye and started me thinking of him in 2012.
Jason C. | 2.11.10 @ 6:44PM
What I really like about Gary is his fiscal conservatism. Just look at his track record as Governor and tell me that he does not have the credentials to state his case on how to start fixing this nation’s debt. I think that America’s deficit is the greatest issue facing this nation and Gary is poised to jump in and start making a difference with his new organization. I, for one, am ready to show my support:
http://www.ouramericainitiative.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/.....5297924363
Spicy Joker| 2.11.10 @ 10:33PM
LOL at the idea of Gary Johnson ever getting elected to anything again. Conservatives need to ignore retards like Gary Johnson and Ron Paul. These men are not conservatives by any stretch of the imagination. They are liberaltarians.
Osamas Pajamas| 2.11.10 @ 11:38PM
I see some clowns are still trying to engineer a rift between conservatives and libertarians --- when their common interests make them far better allies than enemies. I'm beginning to think that these promoters of discord are not even conservatives or libertarians ---- more likely they are Democrats who fear a conservative-libertarian alliance between lovers of peace-thru-strength, freedom and prosperity ---- who can easily out-argue and defeat the Democrats whenever there is an open mike that the Demos can't seize and their editors can't later censor.
bill| 2.12.10 @ 2:29PM
I agree Pajama. Joker is trying to create a problem where there isn't one, and he doesn't sound like any conservative I know. Conservatives debate their positions based on sound reasoning and fact, he makes his point by degrading the subjects with the word "retard" and hoping that by calling someone a name he will win the argument. Definitely a Demo trait if you ask me.
Lou Barlow| 3.17.10 @ 4:39PM
I am highly intrigued by Johnson. In spite of all of the opportunity for 2012, the GOP will blow it if we go for some legacy Republican like Mitt Romney. Johnson is both a political pro and a genuine limited government guy. His libertarian leanings are a plus after a decade of big government conservatism. Our base wants the real thing and they (we) aren't going to accept a fake. Not this time.
James| 11.19.10 @ 11:46AM
Gary Johnson and Ron Paul might not fit YOUR definition of conservative, Spicy Joker, whatever that may be, but they most certainly are. It seems safe to assume (from the liberaltarians moniker you used) that you mean conservative to mean both fiscally AND socially conservative. But if that's the perception, and for a lot of people it is, it's only true because the so-called conservatives today (i.e. neocons) don't understand, historically, what being a conservative means, and they have distorted its true definition.
Chip Kurcubic| 4.27.11 @ 11:51AM
I keep hearing that Gary Johnson is is pro-choice, but I'm curious to know more details about his pro-choice stance. For example: Liberals want the government to fund and legalize abortion, while conservatives want the government to ban abortion. The libertarian view would be to get the government out of the abortion issue (as well as other "social" issues) altogether, which could be miscontrued to be a pro-choice position. If this is his position, properly explaining it would go a long way towards gaining more support, in my opinion.