{"id":143585,"date":"2016-04-12T13:50:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T19:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=143585"},"modified":"2016-04-14T11:28:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T17:28:03","slug":"libertarian-gary-johnson-eyes-a-third-party-presidential-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/04\/libertarian-gary-johnson-eyes-a-third-party-presidential-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"Libertarian Gary Johnson eyes a third-party presidential chance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SAN ANTONIO \u2014 In a presidential campaign season featuring polarizing front-runners and infighting among Republicans and Democrats, Gary Johnson\u00a0sees an opening.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s if more folks realize they\u00a0have options outside of the country\u2019s two juggernaut parties, says the former two-term New Mexico governor.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_143588\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-143588 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Liber-Candidate_jpg_800x1000_q100-336x224.jpg\" alt=\"Gary Johnson\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Liber-Candidate_jpg_800x1000_q100-336x224.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Liber-Candidate_jpg_800x1000_q100-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Liber-Candidate_jpg_800x1000_q100-771x515.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Liber-Candidate_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Courtesy photo<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Republican-turned-Libertarian got something of a pick-me-up late last month. He drew 11 percent support in a nationwide <a href=\"http:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/assets\/0\/32212254770\/32212254991\/32212254992\/32212254994\/32212254995\/30064771087\/7714a05b-515f-4ad3-bdaa-e72a6e5f8e61.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Monmouth University poll<\/a> asking registered voters whom they would pick in a contest between Republican Donald Trump, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Johnson, the 63-year-old fitness freak who has climbed each continent\u2019s tallest mountain (Everest was the biggest challenge).<\/p>\n<p>But even Johnson, who received about 1.2 million votes in a 2012 presidential run, admits the polling results probably don\u2019t signal that he\u2019ll soon become a household name. In the same poll, more than three-fourths of respondents said they did not know enough about his background to form an opinion about him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Mickey Mouse would have been the third name, Mickey would have probably gotten 28 percent,\u201d he told The Texas Tribune in an interview. \u201cThat\u2019s how fed up people are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnson, who left his job as CEO of a <a style=\"line-height: 1.35;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/former-gov-gary-johnson-named-ceo-of-marijuana-company\/\" target=\"_blank\">company that sells marijuana products<\/a> to launch his latest White House bid, spoke with The Texas Tribune last week before participating in a debate at the state\u2019s Libertarian convention (Though a front runner in his party\u2019s contest, he has yet to officially wrap up the nomination). Wearing a gray V-neck T-shirt and blue jeans, Johnson critiqued two-party politics and weighed in on several hot-button issues in Texas and beyond: immigration policy, abortion rights and voting laws.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article originally appeared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/04\/12\/white-house-race-unfolds-gary-johnson-sees-third-p\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Texas Tribune<\/a>,\u00a0a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans and engages with them about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The following is an edited and condensed transcript of the interview.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> So it looks like you\u2019ve gained some attention recently with that poll.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> They included my name for the first time in a national poll. I have never had an issue with requirements that presidential candidates need 15 percent of support in polls to participate in national debates. My issue is just being in the polls. And shouldn\u2019t your name be in the polls if you are on the ballot in all 50 states?<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> Is this the type of year that could put you over that threshold?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> Yeah. I think that Hillary and Trump are the two most polarizing figures in American politics. I think they\u2019re going to be the nominees. Fifty percent of Americans say they\u2019re independent [Or 42 percent, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallup.com\/poll\/188096\/democratic-republican-identification-near-historical-lows.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">according to a 2015 Gallup poll<\/a>]. I think Hillary and Trump represent 30 just percent of the electorate. The majority of people in this country are Libertarian, but they just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> So you see the Trump-Hillary matchup as an advantage for Libertarians. But do you see the same opening if U.S. Sen. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/directory\/ted-cruz\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ted Cruz<\/a> beats Trump?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> Cruz has got the same xenophobia going as Trump. And I can\u2019t believe it. As a border-state senator, I don\u2019t get it. What I\u2019ve seen firsthand is that 30 percent of Republicans believe the scourge of the earth is Mexican immigration. And that\u2019s the group that Trump has appealed to. I\u2019ve never said anything as crazy as deporting 11 million illegal immigrants and building a fence across the border. And how does that work with the Rio Grande? Is the fence going to go on the U.S. side, or is it going to go on the Mexican side?<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> If you\u2019re not a build-a-wall guy, what is the right answer on border security?<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I think we should make it as easy as possible for somebody who wants to come into this country and work to get a work visa. I\u2019m not talking about a green card. The solution is to create a moving line. Don\u2019t put the government in charge of quotas. There will either be jobs or there won\u2019t be jobs. And a work visa should include a background check and a Social Security card so that taxes get paid.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> What about citizenship?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> Yes, there should be a pathway to citizenship, and there should be an embrace of immigration as something really good. They\u2019re not taking jobs that U.S. citizens want.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> But what about security at the border? The <a href=\"http:\/\/apps.texastribune.org\/bordering-on-insecurity\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tribune has been reporting on some of the issues<\/a> \u2014 such as spotty communication between various government agencies \u2014 that has allowed some people to come across the border and commit crimes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> So much of that has to do with drugs. The U.S. is on the verge of having the whole country legalize marijuana. I think California is going to vote to legalize marijuana in November, and then 20 state legislatures will legalize it virtually overnight. This is going to lead to the end of prohibition. This is going to lead to a tremendous reduction in border violence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> Do you see some Libertarian voters \u2014 whether they know they\u2019re Libertarians or not \u2014 gravitating toward either Trump or Cruz?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I do see the vast majority of Americans alienated by either Hillary or Trump. If they have an alternative \u2014 well, they do have the alternative, and it happens to be me. Everybody\u2019s talking about a third party. Nobody\u2019s taking the next half step to say that\u2019s the Libertarian party. Well, who\u2019s the party\u2019s presumptive nominee? Me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> How would you describe the difference between Libertarians and Tea Party Republicans? Don\u2019t they both call for limited government?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> When the Tea Party first came on the scene \u2014 I was 100 percent Tea Party. But now, the Tea Party is Republican. It\u2019s socially conservative. Smaller government seems to be secondary to social issues. No, I\u2019m not a Tea Partier. I mean, abortion \u2014 some people are saying the No. 1 Tea Party issue is abortion. Really?<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> Since you brought up abortion, what do you think about HB 2 \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/03\/02\/supreme-court-hear-arguments-texas-abortion-law\/\" target=\"_blank\">the 2013 law<\/a> that required Texas abortion clinics to meet some of the same standards as hospitals, which critics say forced man to shutdown?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s an affront to women\u2019s rights. Abortion is an unbelievably difficult decision that anyone should have to make. But only a woman should make it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> But on fiscal issues, you\u2019re staunchly conservative?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I\u2019m not for survival of the fittest. I have identified people that truly are in need. Without government help, they\u2019re really going to fall through the cracks. But we\u2019ve gone way over the line in defining in need. That needs to be scaled back, or we\u2019re going to find ourselves not being able to provide any of these services. So I am for smaller government. Less taxes. That\u2019s more freedom for you and I to spend that money.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> How do you draw that line between people in need and those who aren\u2019t?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I\u2019m proposing a balanced budget, and you can\u2019t balance the budget if you don\u2019t address Medicaid, Medicare and military spending. The only way to accomplish this is to give it up to the states, which are laboratories of best practice. [Johnson says the federal government should gives states block grants for entitlement programs and allow them to set the rules.] You will ultimately have best practices that will be emulated. We\u2019re also going to witness horrible failure that would later be avoided.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> That\u2019s a very libertarian stance \u2014 survival of the fittest states. But what happens to the people in the states that may fail?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I\u2019m going to argue that if we don\u2019t get government spending under control, there\u2019s going to be horrible inflation that goes along with our monetary policies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> Texas is perennially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2016\/03\/16\/texas-still-second-last-voter-turnout\/\" target=\"_blank\">near the bottom nationally in voter turnout<\/a>. We have what some consider the nation\u2019s strictest voter ID law, and we don\u2019t allow people to register to vote online. How do you feel about those policies?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> I\u2019m in the camp that believes we should make it as easy as possible to vote. When you start talking about restricting the right to vote or voter ID, ultimately that\u2019s about less people voting.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> How would you respond to those who say our current policies are about protecting the integrity of elections?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> No, I think it\u2019s about restricting Hispanic voters for the most part.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TT:<\/strong> After climbing the world\u2019s tallest mountains, what\u2019s the next athletic challenge you\u2019re gearing up for?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Johnson:<\/strong> If I\u2019m not elected president, next summer I\u2019m planning to ride the divide, which is a 3,000-mile mountain bike race across the continental divide from Banff, Canada, to the Mexico-New Mexico border.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most U.S. voters are Libertarian, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson says, and the jaw-dropping 2016 presidential race may just help them realize that and vote for him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143588,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[708,3280,226,2260],"class_list":["post-143585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2016-election","tag-border","tag-presidential-race","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}