Interview with Gary Johnson

#26
#26
I'll admit Gary Johnson is a great candidate. But he has zero shot of getting elected at this point in the game.
 
#27
#27
the current method isn't cutting it. We need new voices and this is the only way to get the ball rolling. If it doesn't work then all we did was hasten our demise by a few years
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#30
#30
utvolpj said:
the current method isn't cutting it. We need new voices and this is the only way to get the ball rolling. If it doesn't work then all we did was hasten our demise by a few years
Click to expand...

You are right. But it can't start 4 months before the election!
 
#31
#31
volinbham said:
Gary Johnson will do a great job - of getting Obama re-elected.
Click to expand...

The socially liberal crowd could be swayed from Obama. I think the drug legalization issue alone could make it almost wash with the small government crowd he would take from Romney.

...or I could hope anyway.
 
#32
#32
utvolpj said:
if he's on the ballot then he should get a spot. If it has to do with polling results then he needs to be included there to get an accurate view.



there's that pesky phrase again but I still think he would challenge both
Click to expand...
He should, but after 2000 the Dems and GOP acted in sync to lock third parties out of the process. Republicans would have said the same things about Pat Buchanan that Dems said about Nader, had Gore won.

I do think the 50 state ballot threshold is better than 15%... It's lame. You need the exposure to get to 15%, but you need the 15% to get the exposure.

volinbham said:
Gary Johnson will do a great job - of getting Obama re-elected.
Click to expand...
I see little effective difference between Obama and Romney. It's not that there isn't a big difference in philosophy of governance between the two, it's more the nature of elected office, being that one has to display that they will bend to the whims of Wall Street or Koch Industries or unions or Soros or whoever before they can even get on the ticket.

But, even if you don't wholly accept that premise, at the least it doesn't hurt to have extra voices in the discussion.
 
#33
#33
rjd970 said:
The socially liberal crowd could be swayed from Obama. I think the drug legalization issue alone could make it almost wash with the small government crowd he would take from Romney.

...or I could hope anyway.
Click to expand...

Any how many states would that make a difference in? Colorado?
 
#35
#35
rjd970 said:
The socially liberal crowd could be swayed from Obama. I think the drug legalization issue alone could make it almost wash with the small government crowd he would take from Romney.

...or I could hope anyway.
Click to expand...
That seems to be his tenor in interviews. He knows there is a sizable chunk of the Republican crowd that votes GOP begrudgingly, that can easily be swayed to vote Lib. But when Johnson does interviews, he comes strong with the "No more warfare/Legalize drugs/Reduce prison population" stuff.
 
#36
#36
milohimself said:
He should, but after 2000 the Dems and GOP acted in sync to lock third parties out of the process. Republicans would have said the same things about Pat Buchanan that Dems said about Nader, had Gore won.

I do think the 50 state ballot threshold is better than 15%... It's lame. You need the exposure to get to 15%, but you need the 15% to get the exposure.


I see little effective difference between Obama and Romney. It's not that there isn't a big difference in philosophy of governance between the two, it's more the nature of elected office, being that one has to display that they will bend to the whims of Wall Street or Koch Industries or unions or Soros or whoever before they can even get on the ticket.

But, even if you don't wholly accept that premise, at the least it doesn't hurt to have extra voices in the discussion.
Click to expand...

You're right. In order to be elected you have to bend in the first place.

I'd rather have the president bend the way opposite of Soros
 
#39
#39
golfballs said:
You're right. In order to be elected you have to bend in the first place.

I'd rather have the president bend the way opposite of Soros
Click to expand...
It's six of one half a dozen of the other

The people who stuff Republican coffers are every bit as anti-free market as the ones who stuff Democratic coffers

Frequently, they're the same people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#41
#41
milohimself said:
That seems to be his tenor in interviews. He knows there is a sizable chunk of the Republican crowd that votes GOP begrudgingly, that can easily be swayed to vote Lib. But when Johnson does interviews, he comes strong with the "No more warfare/Legalize drugs/Reduce prison population" stuff.
Click to expand...

I think that is where his votes are though. It resonates with the smaller government/less spending/socially liberal crowd with one swing.
 
#42
#42
milohimself said:
It's six of one half a dozen of the other

The people who stuff Republican coffers are every bit as anti-free market as the ones who stuff Democratic coffers

Frequently, they're the same people.
Click to expand...

Self-interest is the common theme.

Just because the candidates cow-tow to these people doesn't make them the same.
 
#43
#43
golfballs said:
I don't think I follow...

50% of the electorate is swayed by a pro-legalization stance?
Click to expand...

50% are for pro-legalization which might make them give Johnson a second look. Add in states rights, money saved on drug war, keep government out of my business, etc. it is reasonable to think he could take votes from both Romney and Obama in equal numbers.

The tea party should be lining up behind Johnson and throwing support his way. It makes no sense to be more identified with the GOP right now when you have a guy that is saying the same thing you are running for president.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
#46
#46
rjd970 said:
I think that is where his votes are though. It resonates with the smaller government/less spending/socially liberal crowd with one swing.
Click to expand...
What I was trying to say is that the libertarian crowd until recently has been mostly a Republican offshoot

While I recognize Johnson has zero shot to get elected, I think he's making somewhat of an ingenious campaign here.

- Build the following by trying to bring on a similarly sized offshoot of people that vote mostly Democrat
- Try and give the libertarian viewpoint a more stable home by having a net neutral effect on voter turnout.

You read Politico much? The GOP has been going hard after third party libs because they've been stealing votes in only one direction.

I'm not sure if what Johnson is doing here will work, but the impact will be great if he can pull it off.

And take it from somebody who lives in a liberal city, there are more than a few people who are sour on Obama for Afghanistan, for drones, for going hard after marijuana, and so on.
 
#47
#47
rjd970 said:
50% are for pro-legalization which might make them give Johnson a second look. Add in states rights, money saved on drug war, keep government out of my business, etc. it is reasonable to think he could take votes from both Romney and Obama in equal numbers.

The tea party should be lining up behind Johnson and throwing support his way. It makes no sense to be more identified with the GOP right now when you have a guy that is saying the same thing you are running for president.
Click to expand...

I agree with your last point.

However, on your first point. Even though 50% of the electorate may support legalizing Marijuana, a miniscule fraction will actually vote for a presidential candidate based on that issue.

There's no doubt that if more Americans actually paid attention and did their research that Johnson would be extremely more popular, it's just not going to happen 4 months before an election.
 
#48
#48
Johnson's biggest impact would be forcing the other guys to discuss his issues. They are not issues they'll discuss on their own. If he can force the discussion he could sway quite a few people

golfballs said:
There's no doubt that if more Americans actually paid attention and did their research that Johnson would be extremely more popular, it's just not going to happen 4 months before an election.
Click to expand...

his popularity is almost completely word of mouth and he has made an impact. You are voting for the same people that cut out a candidate with the possibility to be "extremely more popular". I don't understand
 
#49
#49
rjd970 said:
The tea party should be lining up behind Johnson and throwing support his way. It makes no sense to be more identified with the GOP right now when you have a guy that is saying the same thing you are running for president.
Click to expand...

In theory I agree but in practicality there is zero chance Johnson wins even with Tea Party support so it makes sense for them to line up behind the candidate with the best chance to win that is closest to their views.

Individuals should vote as they see fit. Nothing wrong with voting for Johnson, not voting or voting for the lesser of the evils.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top