NM Gov. Gary Johnson (R-NM) to jump to the Libertarian Party for Prez? - Granite Grok

NM Gov. Gary Johnson (R-NM) to jump to the Libertarian Party for Prez?

Politico is reporting that Gary is thinking from bolting from the Republican Primary and going to the Libertarian ticket:

The former Republican governor, excluded from all but two debates this year, tells the Santa Fe New Mexican that he could seek the Libertarian Party nomination for the general election:

But in an interview Wednesday, he said he’s seriously considering running for the Libertarian Party nomination for president.

"I feel abandoned by the Republican Party," Johnson said in a phone interview. "The Republican Party has left me by the wayside." …

"If I’d have been included in 16 of the last debates we wouldn’t even be having this conversation," Johnson said.

Johnson said there have been "overtures made" by the Libertarian Party. While there’s no guarantee he’d win the nomination, Johnson believes he’d have a fair chance.

The ‘Grok has interviewed Gary on a number of occasions and found him to be engaging, thoughtful, and willing to take on the debate.  I do agree that as a former Governor, he should have been in on more televised debates. More than any previous cycle, it has been the debates that have molded the polling and the public’s perception of the candidates (to the dismay of many in NH and Iowa that depend on the retail politicking that historically made or broke candidates).  Thus, Gary’s campaign has suffered as a result.

On the fiscal issues concerning this TEA Partier, he was spot on.  The problem, the elephant NOT in the room for Gary, is that while the TEA Party has brought the Republican Party closer back to Constitutional roots and its focus on fiscal policy has found common cause with Libertarians, the Republican Party is not the Libertarian Party. And I think that the Republican libertarians that may well have gone for him (as he has worked hard here in NH) left when Ron Paul entered the race.

Even here in NH, with its wide libertarian (that’s small "L") streaks, Gary’s stand on social issues were many steps too far in the big "L" camp (especially his stances on drug policies and outlook.  I give him kudos for being up front on that and on gay marriage, but I think it was just too much; most of the other candidates mirror his fiscal issues and their social stances just turned out to be a better fit for most Republicans that are following the primary.

Thus, I don’t think it was so much that the Republican abandoned Gary; rather, it was that most Republicans decided that he was not the entire package that they were looking for.  It didn’t help that his NH staff left either – they certainly were working hard on his behalf.

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