The Gary Johnson Thread

[StorminNorman]

This week Gary Johnson announced the creation of his Our America Initiative, a Political Action Committee and a typical first step for any potential Presidential Candidate. He also has a book, Seven Principals of Good Government, coming out as well. It looks as if he will run for the Republican nomination.

Don't know who Gary Johnson is?

Gary Johnson is a former Republican governor of New Mexico, his professional rise to fame was creating his own multimillion dollar cooperation Big J. Gary Johnson won the governor's seat in New Mexico in 1994 in spite of New Mexico being 2-1 Democrat. Johnson won re-election in 1998, the first New Mexico governor to win two terms.

To quote wiki: Under Johnson's administration, New Mexico experienced the longest period without a tax increase in the state's history, the rate of growth in the state government was cut in half, half of the state's prisons were privatized, state Medicaid was shifted to managed care, and the state was left with approximately 1,000 fewer employees (with no firings) and a budget surplus. Johnson vetoed 750 bills (which was more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at that time, combined), which earned him the nickname Gary "Veto" Johnson.

Johnson's Seven Principals of Good Government include:

1. Become reality driven. Don’t kid yourself or others. Find out what’s what and base your decisions and actions on that.

2. Always be honest and tell the truth. It’s extremely difficult to do any damage to anybody when you are willing to tell the truth–regardless of the consequences.

3. Always do what’s right and fair. Remember, the more you actually accomplish, the louder your critics become. You’ve got to learn to ignore your critics. You’ve got to continue to do what you think is right. You’ve got to maintain your integrity.

4. Determine your goal, develop a plan to reach that goal, and then act. Don’t procrastinate.

5. Make sure everybody who ought to know what you’re doing knows what you’re doing. Communicate.

6. Don’t hesitate to deliver bad news. There is always time to salvage things. There is always time to fix things. Henry Kissinger said that anything that can be revealed eventually should be revealed immediately.

7. Last, be willing to do whatever it takes to get your job done. If you’ve got a job that you don’t love enough to do what it takes to get your job done, then quit and get one that you do love, and then make a difference

On the issues:

Economy:

The United States should have a balanced budget and we believe that government spending should be reduced to much lower levels. Multi-trillion dollar deficits are a disaster and a threat to the security of the United States.
Small business is the heartbeat of American ingenuity and one of the sources or our future economic recovery. Big business protectionism and bailouts are a burden to all Americans. Government should create a climate that encourages entrepreneurship, development of new ideas and job growth.

Drugs:

We advocate a “Don’t do Drugs” policy. Drugs can be harmful, addictive and destructive to our lives and society. The current war on drugs, however, has not been successful. Crime, economic problems and abuse related to drug usage are still very present. We believe there needs to be a new direction in fighting these problems. The Our America Initiative believes that one of the best solutions to help with the many problems caused by drugs is to legalize marijuana. We do not advocate the legalization of any other drugs and believe that harm reduction measures should be implemented.
Marijuana should be regulated and taxed by the federal government (just like tobacco is currently), which would lead to a lower price for the product and eliminate the criminal element from its distribution, much like the repeal of the prohibition of alcohol many decades back.
The Our America Initiative believes that current drug policies need to be changed. The answer to solving this problem lies in sentencing reform, in supplying treatment on demand, and in honest drug education for our children. We advocate heroin maintenance and other harm reduction measures and believe we should move from a criminal to a medical model of dealing with drug usage. The Initiative thinks that locking up more and more people who are nonviolent drug offenders, people whose real problem is that they are addicted to drugs, is simply a waste of money and human resources and fails to deal with the real problems of abuse. Our goal is to lower the abuse rate in America and we believe a new direction is needed for that to happen.

Abortion:

Gary Johnson is personally pro-life, but he believes that each of us should be allowed to make that decision for ourselves. OUR America believes abortion and the right to life are issues that are best left to the States and not the courts.

Too learn more about Gary Johnson: http://ouramericainitiative.com/

 

[VampElvis]

Hmmmm, I have not heard of him - but I am now interested.

 

[StorminNorman]

This guy is saying what I think most American want to hear from a politician. And he has the track record to blow up any allegations that he is simply taking advantage of recent political dissent.

 

[VampElvis]

Does he have / can he obtain the financial backing necessary to make a legitimate run at the office? That may be the factor.

 

[StorminNorman]

Does he have / can he obtain the financial backing necessary to make a legitimate run at the office? That may be the factor.

Ron Paul did. His campaign would have to be a grassroots one, but that's been done before. Plus, liberal campaign money may be available to him given Obama's problems.

 

[Matt]

I've never heard of him up until now, but I like what I've read so far. An anti-war platform could be very beneficiary to the Republican Party in light of Obama's escalation in Afghanistan (though while it may win over some liberals it could also turn off the base).

I suppose my big concern is, is he savvy enough to pull off a Ron Paul-esque platform without coming off as crazy like Ron Paul? Ron Paul had a lot of great ideas. The problem is, every time he said a good idea, he would follow it up with something crazy like, "America shouldn't have entered WWII." Kinda made the good ideas pale in comparrison to the crazy. I guess to be governor of a state is a bit different than running in one district. You have to appeal to all kinds, so he must either be somewhat sane or good at hiding the crazy. Another concern is can he keep his base in check? Ron Paul's psychotic base did more damage than good in alienating mainstream voters, IMO. If he can get past these two obstacles, I may very well see him as viable enough to switch registrations and vote for him in a primary.

 

[Paradoxium]

Paul said that ?

Paul's campaign I think had less to do with him, than the heart of the group he accidentally tapped into. Very resourceful and tech savvy bunch. It helped he was frugal in his use of his resources as well.

 

[Matt]

Actually I misquoted. Paul said we should've only fought the Japanese, not the Nazis. And even if the point is perfectly valid (and so an extent it is), it makes Paul come off as something of a fringe lunatic.

 

[Paradoxium]

His sound bites make him seem like a fringe lunatic, but his world view holds a certain logical construction. Even if you disagree with him, you poke at his knowledge, you know he can think on his feet over the fact of matter (unlike Failin Palin). I too don't necessarily agree with him on everything but I understand the logic of what he is getting at.

His grievances with the Federal Reserve particularly, I think are well founded. You spend some time to study the fractional reserve system, you will understand half the arguments he makes. The stuff they do, are truly insane.

 

[Matt]

I agree with you. But comeon, the main stream is never going to frown upon the Civil War or WWII. They're too romanticized.

 

[SuBe]

I read through Johnson's website yesterday. I do like what I read.

 

[Kelly]

Independents today have a strong idea, I believe, of what is right and what is wrong. Independents today do not believe the Republican is right, or Democrat is right, or vice versa. Which ever of the parties candidate can make a strong case that they understand what is right and wrong, and that it has nothing to do with their party, they will win the election.

Good luck to this man, if he can begin now making his case, it will make for an interesting campaign for 2012.

As far as Obama is concerned, he needs to GET OUT of campaign mode, and be President.

 

[Paradoxium]

Well at least he has some private sector experience (*cough* unlike someone *cough*) that involved cultivating and growing a company. Instead of the typical ladder climber. It can be very humbling when you actually deal with the redtape yourself.

 

[Paradoxium]

As far as Obama is concerned, he needs to GET OUT of campaign mode, and be President.

That's pretty much how he views his job though

 

[Kelly]

That's pretty much how he views his job though

That is very true, and it may end up being his down fall.

 

[StorminNorman]

I saw Gary Johnson last night in Tallahassee.He is goin to run for President.

 

[ghostrider92]

Gary Johnson/RON PAUL 2012 THE DREAM TICKET.

 

[Schlosser85]

Hmm. After browsing his website and his Wikipedia page, he doesn't sound bad. I like his stances on marijuana, immigration, abortion, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his stance on gay rights is workable. If he can convince people that he has a good economic platform, he could go places.

 

[StorminNorman]

Gary Johnson/RON PAUL 2012 THE DREAM TICKET.

We need Ron Paul in Congress over VP.

Hmm. After browsing his website and his Wikipedia page, he doesn't sound bad. I like his stances on marijuana, immigration, abortion, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his stance on gay rights is workable. If he can convince people that he has a good economic platform, he could go places.

His economic record is his strongest position.

He has a history of fiscal responsibility that Romeny, Palin and Huckabee can't touch.

 

[StorminNorman]

And if you really want to get excited, map the states of all the GOP candidates.

You have Romney in Massachusetts, Pawlenty in Minnesota, Barbor/Newt/Huckabee in the South and Palin in Alaska. Johnson has a tremendous advantage in all the Northwest states including the delegate rich California.

If Johnson can utilize his drug policy to recruit an Obama-like youth organized caucus strategy, and then have success in libertarian-leaning New Hampshire he could enter a very interesting Florida primary with a lot of momentum. It's my argument that Florida is a very winnable state for Johnson with it being significantly more 'moderate' than most Southeastern states. Early wins and Johnson could easily walk away with the nomination.

It all comes down to how good Johnson's campaign is.

 

[Prison Mike]

So Johnson wants to adopt the flat tax on income?

 

[StorminNorman]

Johnson wants tax reform. He has voiced support for both a flat tax or a FairTax system though he is more hesitant about any sort of Sales Tax plan until the income tax is abolished.

 

[Prison Mike]

I'm okay with everything except for the flat tax part.

 

[ghostrider92]

Gary Johnson / ron paul 2012

 

[enterthemadness]

Well, yesterday he said this...

GJ thinks Mickey Mouse will poll 15% against Obama and Romney.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...mouse-barack-obama-mitt-romney_n_1219290.html