Gary Johnson, former governor ® of New Mexico, declared his candidacy for POTUS a little over a week ago.
He slashed New Mexico’s budget and left it with a healty surplus when leaving office. He also campaigned for the decriminalization of marijuana.
Handicap his chances to get to the general election for POTUS in November 2012.
I’m kind of a political news junkie and I’ve never heard his name before this thread. So I will start by saying he has zero national name recognition.
That’s all I can contribute because I know nothing about his reputation as governor, or whether he is considered centrist, right wing, or what.
Agreed with Jim, although I had actually heard of Johnson, but only vaguely. And I’m someone that was up on Mitch Daniels some time ago, as well as Herman Cain and John Huntsman. If you’re below those folks, you got some catching up to do.
Although I will admit that until today I didn’t actually know that Herman Cain is black. So maybe I’m not as informed as I’d like to think.
Yes, I have some familiarity with all those names and their political stances.
He doesn’t have a chance. He’s a libertarian, believes in drug legalization, and nobody outside of New Mexico has heard of him.
Kind of impressive he’s managed to generate so little buzz. I mean, apparently he was a governor for eight years, so its not like he isn’t a legitimate candidate. But even amongst our more politically aware Dopers, it appears that his campaign for President is completely unknown.
He seems like someone who could do credibly against Obama in the general but I can’t picture him getting out of the primaries.
“President Johnson” Hmmm… it does have a rather familiar sound…
Johnson fans can see him in action in the first GOP primary debate tomorrow night, against a stellar lineup of Herman Cain, Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, and Ron Paul. Make sure to set your DVRs.
Two hardcore Libertarians, a Tea Partier, a social issue Christian, and one serious candidate. Pawlenty may come to realize the wisdom of the saying “Never get into a wrestling match with a pig - you’ll both end up covered in mud, and the pig likes it.”
Might be fun to watch.
What’s his stance on immigration? Coming from a southwestern state, I’d think that’d be pretty relevant.
It’s early yet in the primary season. No one heard of Obama, Clinton, Carter, Dean, Kerry before the primaries were up and running.
Johnson has a great record as governor. If he can make it out of the primaries he probably has the best shot against Obama. Johnson was at 2% in polls in NM 3 months prior to election, upset the GOP endorsed candidate, then went on to beat the incumbent Democratic governor in a state that is 2-to-1 democrat.
You can find his stance on some issues on his campaign site http://www.garyjohnson2012.com
BS. Obama had been floated as a candidate almost immediately after his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Clinton was a popular candidate for a Presidential nominee as early as 1988, Dean not only was well known before the primaries were up and running, but thats pretty much the only time he was considered a contender as his fortunes sunk pretty fast after Iowa, John Kerry was of course already famous as a longstanding Senator, and at this point in the 2004 cycle, had already been running for six months.
Indeed, while the idea of someone coming out of nowhere and winning the nomination seems popular, so far as I can tell, it never happens. In every election I can remember, a couple people emerge as likely candidates two years or more before the election, and the nominees invariably ends up being two of those people. Candidates that try and jump in at the last minute, like Wesley Clark or Fred Thompson, quickly go down in flames.
I had a chance to meet him at the debates and have a few nice chats with him. He is very smart and just a super nice guy. He has a great thoughtful demeanor, but the fact that I, as a huge liberal, find him slightly appealing as a candidate cannot bode well for his primary chances.
He is very socially liberal. Whether or not he would classify himself as such, he is actually to the left of many mainstream democrats on issues ranging from same-sex marriage to immigration to drug legalization and even abortion, and he’s quite unapologetic about it. Whereas most Republican candidates who held these views would just hope it doesn’t come up and beat around the issue when it did, these things were basically the first things he told me about himself.
He is very popular in New Mexico actually, even among democrats. But in this current field he is already competing with the super popular Ron Paul for the libertarian inclined voter. The only major policy difference I can see to differentiate the two at this point is that Johnson is pro-choice, so take that for what it’s worth.
And also he got the dumbest question in the history of presidential debates, so obviously Fox News doesn’t take him too seriously.
If you saw the debate you know exactly which question I’m talking about.
Gary Johnson - president - surely you jest!
He was a Libertarian gov who simply vetoed every bill placed on his desk. Even one originated by his wife. He unvetoed that one after she got a hold of him.
I met him a couple of times and found him to be simplistic. He spends most of his time on physical workouts.
The Republicans panicked when Johnson went public with his plan to legalize drugs. They distanced themselves so far from Johnson that I assume his present run is on his own $$$.
Crane
He’s much too ugly to win a national election. And yes, I’m quite serious. We don’t elect ugly people.
Perhaps so, but I’d rather think of it as the charisma of a used toothpick.
How about Nixon?
Crane
Eh? he’s not a super-model, but I don’t see him as particularly ugly. We’ve certainly elected worse as far as looks go.
Count me as another political junkie the used to live in AZ for most of his term in NM, and I still couldn’t pick his face out of a lineup or identify a single position stance he has.
Maybe you haven’t been watching much fox news lately, but what odds would anyone give a pro-gay marriage, pro-immigration, pro-choice, marijuana-legalizing, anti-war, anti-torture, defense minimalist in any republican primary? 1 in a Trillion? He has a better chance running as a democrat.