# Johnson/Weld campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 23, 2016, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446 "2016-05-23T07:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/161 "2016-06-25T11:08:30Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > This is not a normal election. Gary Johnson is at 5-10% simply by not being Trump or Clinton, and that’s with the vast majority of voters not even knowing there’s an alternative in the race. > > Where will Johnson be polling when most voters do know he’s there? The media, unlike in past years, really seems to want voters to at least be aware that he’s there. And I’m sure once the Sanders-Clinton race is totally finished, they’ll start giving Jill Stein more of a platform too. Every election is “not normal”, at some point. This ones seems weirder than most, but until there’s steady polling that shows Johnson with a significant portion within a few months of the voting, then this is just more **adaher** wishful thinking masquerading as analysis. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/162 "2016-06-25T12:04:14Z")
We’ve haven’t had an election unusual in the sense that nobody liked the two candidates since 1992. We also haven’t had this qualified a third party ticket since 1968. That’s not wishful thinking, those conditions have produced significant third party candidacies 100% of the time those conditions existed: 1992, 1980, 1968, 1912 ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/163 "2016-06-25T19:49:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > We’ve haven’t had an election unusual in the sense that nobody liked the two candidates since 1992. We also haven’t had this qualified a third party ticket since 1968. That’s not wishful thinking, those conditions have produced significant third party candidacies 100% of the time those conditions existed: 1992, 1980, 1968, 1912 I’m most likely not voting or else writing in some foreign politician, because I think Trump and Clinton are both unacceptable. that said: what is Gary Johnson’s foreign policy? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/164 "2016-06-25T20:44:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > We’ve haven’t had an election unusual in the sense that nobody liked the two candidates since 1992. We also haven’t had this qualified a third party ticket since 1968. That’s not wishful thinking, those conditions have produced significant third party candidacies 100% of the time those conditions existed: 1992, 1980, 1968, 1912 No question that there are strong negative opinions … but let’s not get too hyperbolic. The reality is that [75%](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/06/24/in-trump-vs-clinton-what-happens-to-the-neither-voters/) of voters do not dislike at least one of them. Most of those who support Clinton are solidly in her camp and Trump has a (somewhat smaller) core of solid support as well. Total of all “undecided/other/neither/third party” is high, maybe as much as 21% if you look at four-way polls, but believing that many more than the current numbers will choose Johnson as their final choice (rather than vote against the one they dislike more, or just stay home) is a speculation without basis. Most do not perceive Johnson as very “qualified” … and his having been a governor does not change that perception. Past third party candidates who got to double digits or at least polled there at some point? Perot ('92) entered at 24%. Anderson ('80) entered at 21% (albeit finished at 7%). Wallace ('68) was at 14% by May. None have moved from single digits at of June to finishing in double digits; single digits in June equals fringe status and stays single digits. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/165 "2016-06-25T21:38:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The LP isn’t going to win as the libertarian party, they are going to win by being likeable and non-threatening since the major party candidates are unlikeable and in one case, scary. Plus they have more experience than either major party ticket. > > They win by being the adults in the room. The honest adults. That worked _so_ well for Kasich, didn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/166 "2016-06-25T21:40:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > We’ve haven’t had an election unusual in the sense that nobody liked the two candidates since 1992. We also haven’t had this qualified a third party ticket since 1968. That’s not wishful thinking, those conditions have produced significant third party candidacies 100% of the time those conditions existed: 1992, 1980, 1968, 1912 Perot? Qualified? Really? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/167 "2016-06-25T22:35:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > They win by being the adults in the room. The honest adults. Libertarians? Adults? Those are non-intersecting sets. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/168 "2016-06-25T23:01:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Who, exactly, liked that Carson dude so much? Seems like we were seeing a vaporous spectre of support for him that wafted away on the breath of his inanity. **Adaher** went through a pro-Carson stage. Just because Carson knew nothing about government, perhaps he could be taught. Which turned out to be a dead end. He’s been trying to distract himself (and everybody else) from His Party’s Choice. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/169 "2016-06-25T23:31:59Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > I’m most likely not voting or else writing in some foreign politician, because I think Trump and Clinton are both unacceptable. that said: what is Gary Johnson’s foreign policy? Here’s their campaign website: [https://johnsonweld.com/issues/](https://johnsonweld.com/issues/) > [@](#): > > The objective of both our foreign policy and our military should be straightforward: To protect us from harm and to allow the exercise of our freedoms. > > Looking back over the past couple of decades, it is difficult to see how the wars we have waged, the interventions we have conducted, the lives sacrificed and the trillions spent on the other side of the globe have made us safer. The chaotic, reactive military and foreign policies of the past two Presidents have, if anything, created an environment that has allowed these threats to flourish. > > Many military and political analysts conclude the rise of ISIS can be traced back to the instability to which our actions contributed. While our leaders have thrust our military and our resources into regime changes, failed nation-building and interventions that have strained valuable strategic relationships, the murderers of ISIS, Al Qaeda and other violent extremists have found new homes, established a state to implement their warped dreams and secured the resources to become very real threats to the stability and security of the Middle East. > > As President, Gary Johnson will move quickly and decisively to refocus U.S. efforts and resources to attack the real threats we face in a strategic, thoughtful way. The U.S. must get serious about cutting off the millions of dollars that are flowing into the violent extremists’ coffers every day. Relationships with strategic allies must be repaired and reinforced. And the simplistic options of “more boots on the ground” and dropping more bombs must be replaced with strategies that will isolate and ultimately neuter those violent extremist groups. In other words, he has no clue what to do. ---
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/170 "2016-06-25T23:54:42Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Here’s their campaign website: > > [https://johnsonweld.com/issues/](https://johnsonweld.com/issues/) > > In other words, he has no clue what to do. Well, that’s fine. I’d rather that, than a candidate who has good ideas about how to accomplish an agenda I disagree with. Johnson seems to be a relatively consistent isolationist, which is more or less what I’d want to see, especially wrt Russia and the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/171 "2016-06-26T00:13:07Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Here’s their campaign website: [https://johnsonweld.com/issues/](https://johnsonweld.com/issues/) > > In other words, he has no clue what to do. Aside from the utterly vapid content (which I suppose one would expect from most politicians trying to gain some traction), the coding on that page is genuinely fucked up. If you want me to try to read your pablum, at least make it not a struggle. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/172 "2016-06-26T03:43:31Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > That worked _so_ well for Kasich, didn’t it? It actually did work for Ben Carson though, until he pissed it away. Johnson and Weld at least have the resumes to continue to be taken seriously. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/173 "2016-06-26T03:44:32Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Perot? Qualified? Really? I said no qualified candidate since 1968. Perot wasn’t qualified, but he did ride a large wave of voter discontent. Had he been a former governor or Senator and hadn’t dropped out like a flake, he would have won. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/174 "2016-06-26T05:07:11Z")
> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#): > > Well, that’s fine. I’d rather that, than a candidate who has good ideas about how to accomplish an agenda I disagree with. > > Johnson seems to be a relatively consistent isolationist, which is more or less what I’d want to see, especially wrt Russia and the Middle East. He is an isolationist who hates regime change. Except he wants to work with China to remove Kim Sung Un from North Korea and unify the peninsula under Seoul. He doesn’t think it will be too difficult with China as a partner. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/175 "2016-06-26T15:16:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The LP isn’t going to win as the libertarian party, they are going to win by being likeable and non-threatening since the major party candidates are unlikeable and in one case, scary. Plus they have more experience than either major party ticket. > > They win by being the adults in the room. The honest adults. They have no chance of winning as long as they give the mealy-mouthed responses that they do now. They are poor politicians. They are painfully local, they do not have the polish or the charisma necessary for a national campaign. Johnson is the “adult” who admits to usually being a habitual user of “cannabis product”. He cannot give a straight answer. Ron Paul would be crushing these two if he was on the LP ticket and he is a much purer libertarian that has a lot more 'splainin to do on a host of issues. These two have done nothing to differentiate themselves from Clinton. They do not even attack her blatant corruption. They’d rather make fun of Donald Trump because they think it will ingratiate themselves with mainstream pundits and other assorted hacks. I am convinced that they are desperately trying to get David Brooks vote. Basically their target audience is emasculated “conservatives” afraid of confrontation. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/176 "2016-06-26T16:26:15Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I said no qualified candidate since 1968. Perot wasn’t qualified, but he did ride a large wave of voter discontent. Had he been a former governor or Senator and hadn’t dropped out like a flake, he would have won. Had he been a former member of the actual government he would have received a tenth of the support he did. You know, like Johnson and Weld are getting. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/177 "2016-06-26T16:54:30Z")
And I guess Anderson’s being in the House for 20 years, and being Chairman of the House Republican Conference for 10 years, did not count as “qualifications.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/178 "2016-06-27T02:42:29Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Ron Paul would be crushing these two if he was on the LP ticket and he is a much purer libertarian that has a lot more 'splainin to do on a host of issues. You know, most of the country views the libertarians as rather wack. Not quite as goofy as sovcits or Bundistas, but the reality is that they are simply not realistic. And the reason we are less than keen on them is not because we need to listen carefully to their ideology: most of us who _have_ studied libertarianism are just not impressed. What I am saying is, a purist libertarian like Paul is going to alienate people with his dogmatic rants. Johnson and Weld may be bland and equivocating, but they might be able to make better gains for the LP that a strong ideologue like a Paul or a Paul. Because, you know, I learned a year or two ago that I am not going to get the government _I_ want, so I support the people who will drag it in my preferred general direction. J&W are the kind of people the Ls ought to support if they want any hope of makes their own desired “progress”. No one will be able to turn America into Libertopia in a decade, but they might be able to work in that direction gradually, if they just try some tact and patience instead of shouting at us fucking blind moroons. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/179 "2016-06-27T03:06:12Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Had he been a former member of the actual government he would have received a tenth of the support he did. You know, like Johnson and Weld are getting. 8-10% is more than they’ve ever polled. NBC actually had a poll showing Johnson and Stein combining for 16% of the vote. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446/180 "2016-06-27T03:13:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > 8-10% is more than they’ve ever polled. NBC actually had a poll showing Johnson and Stein combining for 16% of the vote. And you’re taking polls five months before the election seriously why? How many rants on the subject do you need to hear before it sinks in? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/johnson-weld-campaign/755446.md?page=10)