Who is Gary Johnson anyway?
by Leigh Pomeroy
An old college friend emailed me this morning with this terse note:
But I had an inkling who Gary Johnson might be, because my friend converted from being a born-and-raised Democrat to Republicanism after meeting and marrying a solid, very intelligent Republican guy of the William F. Buckley mold — that is, a Republican with whom you could have a thoughtful and enjoyable conversation on any number of issues and, in fact, agree on a number of reasonable points.
This kind of Republican has become an increasingly rare commodity, though I feel I'm blessed with knowing quite a few of them. I guess, at least as far as the media are concerned, they must just be closeted.
Anyway, this drove me to look up "Gary Johnson" and indeed there he was in the news as the Libertarian candidate for president and polling over 10%. That means that 1 in 10 voters were planning to vote for someone I didn't even know was running.
This makes a lot of sense since I have come across quite a lot of folks within my sphere of acquaintances who are very much leaning toward the "none of the above" side. Most seem to have a long running dislike for Hillary (the most repeated comment is that she's "dishonest") and a newfound disgust with Trump.
So voilà! We now have a legitimate, non-of-the-above candidate in Mr. Johnson, who has:
An old college friend emailed me this morning with this terse note:
I thought, "Who the hell is Gary Johnson? And why is [my friend] emailing me this when I hadn't heard from her in months?"I'm now supporting Gary Johnson. You should give him a look. CS
But I had an inkling who Gary Johnson might be, because my friend converted from being a born-and-raised Democrat to Republicanism after meeting and marrying a solid, very intelligent Republican guy of the William F. Buckley mold — that is, a Republican with whom you could have a thoughtful and enjoyable conversation on any number of issues and, in fact, agree on a number of reasonable points.
This kind of Republican has become an increasingly rare commodity, though I feel I'm blessed with knowing quite a few of them. I guess, at least as far as the media are concerned, they must just be closeted.
Anyway, this drove me to look up "Gary Johnson" and indeed there he was in the news as the Libertarian candidate for president and polling over 10%. That means that 1 in 10 voters were planning to vote for someone I didn't even know was running.
This makes a lot of sense since I have come across quite a lot of folks within my sphere of acquaintances who are very much leaning toward the "none of the above" side. Most seem to have a long running dislike for Hillary (the most repeated comment is that she's "dishonest") and a newfound disgust with Trump.
So voilà! We now have a legitimate, non-of-the-above candidate in Mr. Johnson, who has:
- a bona fide political party endorsement,
- a bona fide political track record (he was governor of Arizona), and
- a bona fide platform that appeals to many Americans.
Could this be a redo of the 1992 presidential campaign, when Ross Perot won nearly 19% of the popular vote, and probably would have gained more had he not been in and out and in again in the race?
Gosh, I certainly hope so, because our political system has become so stuck and, well, boring that we do need something beyond the idiocy of Mr. Trump to shake things up.
While I appreciate some of the views of Mr. Johnson, I will not be voting for him because, like The Donald, he refuses to recognize the overwhelming challenge of anthropogenic climate change. And there's one thing I can't stand is a candidate who refuses to recognize scientific reality.
Anyway, there's a growing amount of info out there on the web and now in the media about Mr. Johnson, so if you're tired of the current Donald and Hillary Show, I suggest you check some of it out. A few suggestions (beyond the links above):
Gosh, I certainly hope so, because our political system has become so stuck and, well, boring that we do need something beyond the idiocy of Mr. Trump to shake things up.
While I appreciate some of the views of Mr. Johnson, I will not be voting for him because, like The Donald, he refuses to recognize the overwhelming challenge of anthropogenic climate change. And there's one thing I can't stand is a candidate who refuses to recognize scientific reality.
Anyway, there's a growing amount of info out there on the web and now in the media about Mr. Johnson, so if you're tired of the current Donald and Hillary Show, I suggest you check some of it out. A few suggestions (beyond the links above):
- "Gary Johnson Is Here To Tell You You’re A Libertarian", FiveThirtyEight
- "Can Gary Johnson Keep Rising By Not Stinking As Bad As the Other Two?", Reason.com
- "Why I'm running for president" by Gary Johnson, CNN
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