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When Gary Johnson declared he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination, the thought among many was that he was an electable version of Ron Paul, the popular and controversial Texas Congressman who had captured the attention of millions during his 2008 bid. Johnson would be able to put a sane face on the overall message of much smaller government that clearly resonates among Republican primary voters.
Johnson’s resume is more than impressive. A successful two-term governor of New Mexico, he left the state with a billion dollar surplus. Johnson has also built a multi-million dollar business of his own, run marathons and climbed Mount Everest. In some ways Johnson is a modern day, libertarian version of Teddy Roosevelt.
Unfortunately, Ron Paul wasn’t done running for President. And now, after sucking all the oxygen out of the room and surging to the front of polls in NH and Iowa, we’re seeing why that’s a bad thing.
The Ron Paul newsletter scandal, something many of us who’ve followed Dr. Paul’s career have been familiar with for years, is bubbling up into the national spotlight.
See this opening paragraph in a Reuters wire story today…
A direct-mail solicitation for Ron Paul’s political and investment newsletters two decades ago warned of a ‘coming race war in our big cities’ and of a ‘federal-homosexual cover-up’ to play down the impact of AIDS. The eight-page letter, which appears to carry Paul’s signature at the end, also warns that the U.S. government’s redesign of currency to include different colors – a move aimed at thwarting counterfeiters – actually was part of a plot to allow the government to track Americans using the ‘new money.’
Among other things, the newsletter’s articles called the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. a “world-class philanderer,” criticized the U.S. holiday bearing King’s name as “Hate Whitey Day,” and said that AIDS sufferers “enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.”
It’s over. Ron Paul will not be the Republican nominee, and if he’s accomplished anything with this campaign, it’s only been to marginalize a far more credible candidate that could have taken the libertarian message to new heights. The downright kooky views expressed in these newsletters will now be amplified by the mainstream media until the Paul campaign is polling in low single digits again. He might still do well in Iowa or New Hampshire, but he’ll never achieve liftoff in the later primary states and it looks like his delegate totals will be seriously limited because of it.
The best possible outcome now is for Congressman Paul, as the rest of this campaign unfolds, to steer his followers toward the Libertarian Party campaign of Governor Johnson. Take the fight to the general election. We’ll soon find out if the liberty movement is a real movement, or simply a cult of personality surrounding one eccentric and very flawed man.
It’s time to pass the torch, Congressman Paul.
The problems with Johnson are that he doesn’t excite anyone, he doesn’t really challenge the establishment, and he lacks charisma.
He doesn’t represent anyone in particular, he doesn’t seem particularly savvy politically, he has a very low profile, and he wants a national sales tax.
Paul can’t pass the torch to Johnson, because Gary might get burnt by the intensity.
That’s not to say I dislike Johnson as a person, or that he hasn’t been one of the most decent republicans in an age where Republicans are generally sociopathic hypocrites when they aren’t trying to one up Democrats for mass murdering the most foreigners.
Unlike Ron Paul who is polling near obama nationwide in some polls, Johnson would not get the same amount of support.
Because he does not command the loyalty Ron Paul does.
This “solution” would just help Romney and Newt getting the nomination.
Mit, Newt, and Barrack are all cut out of the same corrupt moldy cheese
Ron Paul is not a racist. A bad publisher that paid more attention to his medical practice (which I think would keep anyone pretty busy) than to what his ghost writers were dishing out, yes. Racist, no. ronpaulmyths.com/social-issues.php?expanddiv=newsletter Listen to Ron Paul directly: youtube.com/watch?v=kW3Sz4-OAhI
All you need to know about Ron Paul’s racist newsletters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KBaMYP6DaI
They are both unclassy losers who are not winners. The American people want winners, such as myself. Successful people with popular reality television programs.
Neither of these men could match my ratings on The Apprentice on NBC.
They are garbage.
Soitenly!
You say Gary Johnson is not exciting or politically savvy and yet he was elected Governor twice in a Democratic-leaning state. Besides, I’ve heard Ron Paul often being called “not politically savvy” or “cranky old man” and yet a lot of people are supporting him strongly. I would say Gary Johnson is an ideal successor to Ron Paul.
Both would make a great president.
Yes, Johnson would be an ideal running mate for Paul ideologically, though notice that Paul himself has an interesting history of considering insurgent Democrats like Kucinich or Nader for that position. Perhaps he is not as ideologically pure a libertarian as some people think. And that is good. For example, the Rothbard Libertarians defend our land ownership system, where a dozen or so billionaires can make the people of Manhattan pay 1/2 our income in rent, just for the right to live there.
But the article is basically wrong-headed, in that you don’t motivate voters with ‘sane’ candidates that promise an incremental improvement in their lives. Certainly not in this election year, when the voters feel radically alienated from the Washington government, and want someone who will jail some or all of the billionaires, banksters and politicoes who have made such a mess of things over the last thirty years or so.
Johnson should endorse Paul, not try to build the Libertarian party, which is moribund, and has a growing problem within its own ranks, as its Southern members seem to be more and more overtly homophobic and even racist.
Johnson’s supporters wont follow paul whether johnson endorses paul or not based on 2 reasons paul isn’t for individual liberties and pauls fan club is overwhelming and to demanding which is what will lead to his down fall. the more his followers push paul down everyones throats the more we want to vomit and not elect him. i wont vote for him in the primary or the year after because i do not believe him. i do not believe he is the man he claims to be i think he’s a career politician and i do not want another career politician in office. can u believe his supporters believe he’s the reincarnation of jesus and he will save the world please. he will have zero effect on other countries and zero effect in wavering my support from gary
I will be voting for Gary Johnson and will be touting his message to all that will listen. Gary Johnson is exactly what this country needs right now and the people should make him the peoples president. Honest Gary Johnson 2012