Tag Archives: Governor Gary Johnson
Johnson: Fiscally Conservative, Socially Tolerant Voters Alienated by Iowa Results
Former two-term New Mexico Republican Governor Gary Johnson, who is seeking the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president in 2016, issued a statement on the results of the Democratic and Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa on Monday.
“To no one’s surprise, the Republican who emerged from the Iowa Caucuses did so under a banner of social intolerance and carpet bombing,” said Johnson of GOP winner and U.S. Senator from Texas Ted Cruz.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton narrowly beat U.S. Senator from Vermont Bernie Sanders. “Just as predictably, the Democrats endorsed a candidate who has never seen a federal program, regulation or expenditure she doesn’t like,” added Johnson.
[RELATED: DONEGAN: If GOP Debate Stage Can Fit 11, Let Third Parties In General Election Debates]
Johnson opined that the outcome of the caucuses show that Democrats and Republicans “are not going to nominate a candidate who represents the real majority in America – independents who are fed up with the partisan dance that has given us a $20 trillion debt, endless war and a government intent on eroding the very liberties it is supposed to be preserving.”
The libertarian-leaning candidate on the GOP side in the 2016 race, Sen. Rand Paul, fell short of expectations with his fifth-place finish in Iowa, causing him to suspend his campaign on Wednesday.
“The pundits have become fond of talking about ‘lanes’ to electoral success. Where is the lane for the millions of Americans who are fundamentally conservative when it comes to the size and cost of government, but just as fundamentally tolerant when it comes to individual and civil liberties?” asked Johnson.
[RELATED: Gary Johnson Responds to President Obama’s State of the Union Address]
Johnson’s comments come just as pundits are beginning to wonder whether the support base that had been backing Sen. Paul will shift to another GOP primary candidate or an independent.
“Where that support will go is hard to predict, because Paul isn’t ideologically aligned with any of the [GOP] frontrunners,” wrote The Charlotte Observer’s Peter St. Onge.
According to The Associated Press, Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio says he plans to attempt to win over Rand Paul’s supporters. Ohio Gov. John Kasich told ABC News on Wednesday that he believes he has a chance to capture some of Paul’s support base.
A July 2015 Truth in Media Consider This video highlights the fact that independent voters now outnumber Republicans and Democrats. Watch it in the below-embedded video player.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf26DKntwzM
For more 2016 election coverage, click here.
IVN Interview: Gary Johnson Calls 2016 a ‘Tipping Point’ for Independents
By Glenn Davis – Last week amid considerable speculation, former New Mexico governor and 2012 Libertarian Party presidential candidate, Gary Johnson, formally announced his bid for the 2016 Libertarian Party nomination. In an exclusive interview for IVN, he clarified his announcement and ambitions for his 2016 campaign.
Gary Johnson is known for a wide range of accomplishments as an entrepreneur, two-term governor, marijuana advocate, and extreme athlete. To pave the way for his presidential bid, he resigned as CEO of Cannabis Sativa, Inc. – a position he recently described as his “dream job.”
So why aim for an even loftier goal of becoming president?
“I have a great life. I don’t need to be president. But I do need – and want – to alter the course the nation is on under the leadership of the past couple of decades,” Johnson said of his objectives.
His first hurdle is securing the Libertarian nomination. There are at least ten others vying to be the LP candidate, including computer security pioneer John McAfee.
[easy-tweet tweet=”2016 LP candidate @GovGaryJohnson wants to alter the course of the nation.” user=”TheCPlan” hashtags=”election”]
The LP endorsement is an open, competitive process, a process which Johnson believes in.
“I’ll have to earn the nomination,” he confirmed, adding that he is the candidate most capable of “providing a voice on the national stage.”
He means that literally.
The Libertarian National Committee is a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit to change the rules that obstruct third party candidates from participating in presidential debates. While the court decision is still pending, Johnson says movement is expected in the next few weeks.
“We believe we have a strong case, and that we will not only prevail, but in the process, expose the Commission on Presidential Debates as the partisan, rigged organization that it is,” he remarked.
Having a podium on the national debate stage is crucial to his success, suggesting that 2016 may be a “tipping point” in the viability of independent candidates.
Johnson believes that, like himself, the majority of voters are fiscally conservative and socially liberal. He elaborated:
[quote_box_center]“There are literally millions of Americans today who are libertarians, but frankly don’t know it. Their beliefs align with ours, and they just need a political home. We must make the LP that home.”[/quote_box_center]
And Johnson is not holding back against the current field of Democratic and Republican candidates. According to Johnson, “a majority of Americans now say that neither of the two ‘major’ parties represents them,” citing little difference among Obama, Clinton, and the Republicans.
Hillary Clinton, Johnson explained, “might well surpass President Obama when it comes to spending and increasing the debt.”
“Voters have just as much to fear and oppose from Clinton as they do the Republicans,” he added
Regarding the Republican candidates, “despite their attacks on one another, when you wade through the rhetoric, there is really very little difference among them,” Johnson stated, adding:
[quote_box_center]“Donald Trump may well be bringing some new ‘anti-establishment’ voters into the equation, but that is more a matter of style than substance. On the issues, none of the Republicans are bringing any new ideas to the conversation.”[/quote_box_center]
He previously expressed that Trump’s intentions are “just whacked… crazy.”
Johnson hopes that he and the LP will benefit from this.
“Our job is to connect with those voters and give them a credible, viable alternative,” he explained.
Where will his votes come from? In his announcement, Johnson asserted that “Libertarians draw as many votes from Democrats as they do from Republicans.” But conventional wisdom may suggest otherwise. When asked specifically whether he will draw votes from an already fragmented Republican electorate, he responded, “I certainly hope so.”
He added:
[quote_box_center]“It is clear that not just Republicans, but Americans across the board are rejecting the status quo. I believe 2016 has the potential to be historic in terms of the door being open for a candidate other than the Republican and Democrat to gain substantial support. Our job is to connect with those voters and give them a credible, viable alternative.”[/quote_box_center]
What will constitute success?
“I want to win, and I want to serve,” answered Johnson. But he also sees success in shifting the debate and reshaping American politics, citing the examples of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
“If we change the course of the nation and restore liberty as the true American value, it will be a job well done,” he said.
Dream job or not, the presidency would be quite an achievement for Gary Johnson. But are voters truly ready to affirm his rejection of the status quo on Election Day? As Johnson maintained, “the only wasted vote is a vote for a candidate one doesn’t really believe in.”
This article was republished with permission by IVN.
Gary Johnson Responds to President Obama’s State of the Union Address
After U.S. President Barack Obama gave the final State of the Union address of his presidency on Tuesday, 2016 Libertarian Party presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson issued a response on his official Tumblr page.
Johnson opened his response by praising Obama’s optimistic tone, but cautioned that he takes issue with “basing that optimism on what government has done over the past 7 years and what President Obama wants it to do in the future.”
The former two-term Republican governor, who now identifies as a member of the Libertarian Party, challenged Obama’s claim that the U.S. economy’s health is beyond question, noting that the national debt, which Johnson says is bankrupting the country, has “doubled on his watch, aided and abetted by Congress.”
[RELATED: Exclusive Post-GOP Debate Interview With Gary Johnson]
Johnson then criticized President Obama’s signature legislation, the Affordable Care Act, and said that his “promise of better care and lower cost simply isn’t happening.”
“To be fair, there have been steps in the right direction. Meaningful criminal justice reform is taking hold across the nation. More and more governments at all levels are finally seeing the failure of the War on Drugs. But far too many Americans are still being victimized by militarized police and heavy-handed laws,” said Johnson, who also in the same response called Obama “a President whose Administration continues at every turn to dismantle the 4th Amendment, spy on American citizens and plant the government in every aspect of society.”
Johnson summarized his appraisal of the health of the Republic and said, “My assessment of the State of the Union is quite different than President Obama’s, and much simpler. I see a national debt that will hit $20 trillion by the time he leaves office. I see a government that was too big and too overreaching when he took office, and has gotten more so under his watch. And I challenge anyone to show that we are today safer after years of war, failed nation-building abroad and foreign policy chaos.”
The Libertarian Party presidential hopeful concluded by saying that he shares Obama’s optimism, but not because he believes government policies will deliver the nation from its problems, but because he feels “it is clear America is tired of too much government and too little freedom, and appears poised to demand change – a different kind of change than we have gotten over the past 7 years.”
For more election coverage, click here.