Gary Johnson on Running as the Libertarian Nominee
May 7, 2012 Cavuto Fox Business
Libertarian Presidential Nominee Gary Johnson on his third-party campaign for President.
Gary Johnson wins Libertarian Party presidential nomination
May 5, 2012
CNN Politics
By Gregory Wallace
(CNN) – Former GOP presidential candidate GaryJohnson won and accepted the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party on Saturday, which his campaign said earns him a spot on November ballots in all 50 states.
Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico and business owner, won the nomination with more than 70% of the vote at the party convention in Las Vegas. He entered the Libertarian primary race after dropping his 2012 Republican bid in late December.
He is best known for his support for the legalization of marijuana and the end of the so-called war on drugs. He supports same-sex marriage, an immediate end to the war in Afghanistan, and proposes slashing the federal budget by 43% to eliminate deficit spending.
Read More
Comparing Gary Johnson to Past Libertarian Party Nominees
May 7, 2012
The Atlantic
By: Conor Friedersdorf
He has the most executive experience and the potential to win votes from conservatives and liberals.
He has the most executive experience and the potential to win votes from conservatives and liberals.
gary johnson fullest.jpg
Reuters
Over the weekend the Libertarian Party decided that GaryJohnson would be its presidential nominee. He's likely to appear on the ballot in all 50 states. And he's arguably the strongest candidate they've ever run.
A quick history:
The Libertarian Party first ran a presidential candidate in 1972. John Hospers, a philosophy professor, appeared on the ballot in only two states, but managed to win one electoral vote thanks to a Republican delegate who parted ways with Richard Nixon and backed the Libertarian ticket. In so doing, Roger McBride became a Libertarian Party hero -- and its presidential candidate in 1976. A Harvard trained lawyer, he made the ballot in 32 states, but won no electoral votes.
Ed Clark was the Libertarian Party nominee in 1980. With his running mate, billionaire Charles Koch, he won 1 percent of the popular vote nationwide -- the best a candidate from that party has ever done. Four years later, David Bergland received just .3 percent of the popular vote. And in 1988, Ron Paul was the Libertarian nominee for president. With 9 years in the U.S. House of Representatives on his resume, he was easily the most experienced candidate the Libertarian Party had run. Around the same time, the racist newsletters most recently raised during the present campaign were going out under Paul's name.
Read More
Don’t Forget Gary Johnson! How the Libertarian Could Shake Up 2012
May 6, 2012
The Daily Beast
By Michael Ames
The budget-busting, pro-gay marriage former governor got the Libertarian party’s nod at a Las Vegas convention this weekend. Michael Ames on why he’s shaping up to be a November spoiler.
It's fitting that Gary Johnson made his Libertarian presidential campaign official at a Las Vegas casino. In the past, the Libertarians have favored philosophic purity over government experience, but this year they’re taking a gamble: that the former New Mexico governor can make them a legitimate alternative party. In an era of infinite political dysfunction, Johnson is rolling the dice with a brand of fiscal responsibility and social tolerance that could make him a real threat in November.
Johnson has been polling between 6 and 9 percent nationally, a number just large enough to cover most Obama-Romney spreads. His name is expected to appear on ballots in all 50 states, and unlike the president and Mitt Romney, Johnson will spend the next six months speaking freely in language unmolested by establishment advisers or influential special interests. As the predictable election trench war digs in, the unassuming New Mexican is taking on the distinct and alarming traits of a spoiler.
Read More
Gary Johnson: I'm The Best Candidate On Gay Marriage
May 8th, 2012
BuzzFeed Politics
By Rosie Gray
Says he “crushes” Romney and Obama on civil liberties. Hard to disagree on that one.
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson said on Steve Cochran's radio show yesterday that he will "be unequivocally supporting gay marriage" and criticized both President Obama and Mitt Romney for their records on the issue.
"I think I do better than Obama on civil liberties, I think I crush him when it comes to dollars and cents," Johnson said. "I think I do a lot bettrer than Romney on dollars and cents but I think I crush him on civil liberties."
Asked if he was the best candidate on gay marriage, Johnson said "There's no question unabashedly let's have marriage equality now, gay rights are constitutionally guaranteed."
A Johnson presidency would ensure a "libertarian president who's going to challenge Democrats to fix things when it comes to civil liberties and then get a libertarian president who's going to challenge the Republicans on dollars and cents, something they're horrible on."
Johnson, a potential spoiler in the race with polling as high as 6 percent against Romney and Obama, has become more aggressive in his attacks on the mainstream candidates lately. Last weekend he slammed Republicans for the exit of Romney's gay spokesman Richard Grenell, saying "That intolerance is why the world vilifies Republicans."
Watch Video Online here.
Libertarians nominate ex-Governor Gary Johnson for president
May 5, 2012
Reuters
By Timothy Pratt
(Reuters) - The U.S. Libertarian Party on Saturday chose former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, who was once a Republican White House hopeful, as its presidential candidate in the November 6 election.
Johnson, who announced in December he would run for president as a Libertarian after mounting a long-shot candidacy for the Republican nomination, won 70 percent of the votes cast by 632 delegates at the party's convention in Las Vegas, Libertarian Party spokesman Stephen Gordon said.
Johnson, who became the front-runner after winning straw polls at 12 previous state debates, beat Air Force veteran R. Lee Wrights, after the field narrowed to two candidates from six at the start of the convention on Thursday.
"I am very humbled. This is just the start," Johnson told Reuters after securing the nomination of the Libertarian Party, whose philosophy is "minimum government, maximum freedom."
Third parties have traditionally fared poorly in the two-party U.S. political system long dominated by Republicans and Democrats.
The Libertarians' best presidential showing came in 1980 when nominee Ed Clark won 921,128 votes or 1.1 percent. In the 2008 election, party nominee Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman, got 523,686 votes or 0.4 percent.
Read More
Gary Johnson Wins 2012 Libertarian Nomination
May 5, 2012
The Huffington Post
By Cristina Silva
LAS VEGAS -- Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is campaigning to win the White House as a Libertarian after receiving scant attention in the Republican presidential race.
Johnson easily became the party's presidential nominee at the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday. He hopes to appeal to voters fed up with the traditional two-party system this November.
Johnson was a longshot candidate for the Republican presidential nomination when he announced in December that he would instead pursue the Libertarian ticket.
He won 74 percent of the vote on the first ballot in Las Vegas, an unusual showing of support. In 2008, Libertarian delegates needed six rounds of voting to pick a presidential nominee.
Johnson supports legalized marijuana, low taxes and immigration reform.
He was elected New Mexico's governor in 1994.
Read More
Gary Johnson Wins Libertarian Party Nomination For President
May 5, 2012
Outside the Beltway
By Doug Mataconis
After dropping out of the race for the Republican nomination for President in December, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson quit the GOP altogether and began pursuing the Libertarian Party’s nomination instead. Today at the Libertarian Party’s convention in Las Vegas, that effort paid off with a first ballot victory:
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is campaigning to win the White House as a Libertarian after receiving scant attention in the Republican presidential race.
Johnson easily became the party’s presidential nominee at the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday. He hopes to appeal to voters fed up with the traditional two-party system this November.
Johnson was a longshot candidate for the Republican presidential nomination when he announced in December that he would instead pursue the Libertarian ticket.
He won 74 percent of the vote on the first ballot in Las Vegas, an unusual showing of support. In 2008, Libertarian delegates needed six rounds of voting to pick a presidential nominee.
Read More
Gary Johnson Just Gave the Best Speech of His Presidential Campaign
May 5, 2012
Reason.com
By Mike Riggs
Las Vegas - Moments before delegates began casting their ballots to determine the Libertarian Party presidential nominee, Gary Johnson told the crowd at the Red Rocks Resort in Las Vegas that he’d rather be tortured to death than vote for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.
 It was one of several lines that brought the crowd to its feet at this year’s Libertarian Party Convention. Based on what I’ve seen from Johnson in the last year, it was the best speech he’s ever given: Punchy, firm, loud, politically on point, and littered with applause lines.
It was also improvised.
“You must not know much about Gary,” his spokesman told me when I asked for a transcript of the speech, which brought the packed Red Rocks ballroom to its feet half a dozen times. “That was all Gary. All he had up there were a few notes.”
Read More
Gary Johnson Wins Libertarian Nod for President
May 5, 2012
The Wall Street Journal
By Danny Yadron
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who ditched his Republican bid for president in December, captured the Libertarian Party’s nomination on Saturday in Las Vegas, adding a third party candidate with some name recognition to the 2012 race.
Mr. Johnson is likely to be a sideshow in the presidential contest. He will be less well-funded than President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, while holding policy positions often considered outside mainstream political thought. Among other things, he has called for the elimination of the Education Department, cutting 43% of federal spending and instituting a 23% national sales tax while eliminating the Internal Revenue Service. He also backs gay marriage and supports the legalization of marijuana.
Mr. Johnson appeared to be the clear favorite at the Libertarian convention in Las Vegas, pulling 74% of the vote on the first ballot, the Associated Press reported. The wire service noted that in 2008, the party needed six rounds of voting to settle on former Rep. Bob Barr as its nominee.
In past years, the Libertarian Party has obtained ballot access in all 50 states. Mr. Johnson has suggested West Virginia may be the biggest hurdle this year.
Read More
Johnson likely to get Libertarian nomination
May 2, 2012
Santa Fe New Mecican.com
By Steve Terrell
Former Gov. Gary Johnson is on the verge of winning the Libertarian Party's nomination for president, but he's reluctant to claim victory yet.
"I wouldn't take anything for granted yet," he said of the Libertarian nominating process, which takes place Saturday at the party's national convention in Las Vegas, Nev. But a moment later, he added, "It does look good."
Johnson has even chosen his preferred running mate -- Jim Gray, a retired California superior court judge, who, like Johnson, is a longtime opponent of marijuana laws. Gray is the only announced Libertarian candidate for vice president.
But even if Johnson wins the Libertarian nod this weekend, he acknowledged his path won't be easy. In an interview Wednesday, Johnson said any hope of being competitive with Democratic President Barack Obama and likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney in November depends on him being included in the presidential debates in October.
Read More
Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson cuts to the chase: ‘This is about winning’
May 5, 2012
All Voices
By Punditty
It’s official - Gary Johnson is the 2012 Libertarian presidential nominee, and he’s in it to win it.
Shortly before noon local time at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, the former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico secured the LP nomination in the first round of balloting, setting the stage for a three-way presidential race featuring two former governors vying to unseat the incumbent.
After accepting the nomination and thanking those in attendance, Johnson made a pledge. “None of you,” he said, “are going to regret what happened here today.”
Johnson went on to assure the Libertarian faithful that not only does he mean to compete, he means to win the 2012 presidential race. “This is about winning,” Johnson said in his brief post-nomination address. For those who didn’t get it the first time, he repeated himself. “This is about winning.” Johnson then asked the assemblage to support his choice for vice president, former federal prosecutor and California Superior Court Judge Jim Gray. Gray won the VP nomination later in the afternoon. Portions of the convention were televised on C-SPAN both Friday and Saturday.
Read More
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment