Who the hell is Gary Johnson?

[Hedda Rosa]

Anyone who listened to Wait Wait over the last couple of weeks will know that they don't know this guy, but really....who is he? And as someone who normally votes Democratic why don't I like him? Because I have to admit, on the surface I was pretty swayed by "Climbed Everest".

[gazpacho]

He was Governor of New Mexico a while back. He doesn't have a chance in hell to be president because he has gone one record saying pot should be legal. It does not matter about any of his other positions currently soft of drugs is a non starter.

[Simplicio]

Honestly, I think he's running just because he's pissed he missed his chance to be the poster child of GOP-Libertarians. In 2005 he was an ex-governor who was fondly remembered in his own state, had he run in 2008 I suspect he would've captured the Ron Paul niche and Paul would've been stayed a more or less unknown. Not that Johnson would've been the GOP nominee, but he could've been a nationally known figure in the same way Paul is (without all the racism baggage). But he was in a hang-glider accident and broke a non-trivial number of his bones, which kept him out of politics for a few years.

Now hes doing what he should've done in 2008, but Paul has already more or less taken his portfolio, so he'll go down in history as "who the hell is Gary Johnson"

Also, if your a GOP primary candidate, and you find yourself as the guest on Wait Wait don't tell me, its probably a good sign your not going to win the nomination.

[Chronos]

I'm pretty sure Ron Paul was nationally-known before 2008. Wasn't he one of the serious contenders as early as 2000?

[Simplicio]

Originally Posted by Chronos

I'm pretty sure Ron Paul was nationally-known before 2008. Wasn't he one of the serious contenders as early as 2000?

His only other Presidential run was as the Libertarian candidate in the 80's. I don't think he got much national recognition from that (I can't name any other Libertarian party candidate for, well, anything).

Most of his noteriety comes from the '08 GOP primary campaign, though, when he presented a good "outside the box" candidate for Republican voters who wanted to distance themselves from the Bush legacy without leaving the party completely.

[Quartz]

I'm bumping this because he's had a write-up in GQ.