^interesting candidate, atleast worth reading about compared to the others

4/21/2011 12:06:14 PM

^^Sounds good Prawn Star.

4/21/2011 12:14:46 PM

4/21/2011 12:19:54 PM

Yep. He almost died paragliding 6 years ago. He's finished the Hawaii Iron Man Triathlon 5 times.

Dude looks kinda choad--like, but he's a badass.

[Edited on April 21, 2011 at 12:46 PM. Reason : e]

4/21/2011 12:46:11 PM

Gary Johnson is a good candidate. I expect Ron Paul to announce his candidacy soon. As far as I'm concerned, having them both in the running would be a good thing. Instead of one guy honing in on the truth, there's at least two, which means they'll both have a hand in shaping the debate.

4/21/2011 12:55:31 PM

Quote :

"Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, threw his name in the hat today. He's libertarian, pro pot-legalization, pro-abortion, non-interventionist on foreign policy, for gay marriage, and practiced what he preached in slashing spending and taxes to leave office with a billion dollar surplus."

Sounds great, but how would he ever win the Republican nomination?

[Edited on April 21, 2011 at 1:24 PM. Reason : .]

4/21/2011 1:24:51 PM

^while he might not win, the more people we have talking about this will help form policy. Much like Perot did without winning.

4/21/2011 1:31:24 PM

^^ did you purposefully cut off my statement that he'll be this cycle's Ron Paul?

Actually, scratch that. There is a slim chance that he could win a few states, due to the sheer ineptitude of the rest of the field. If the Tea Party were to throw their money and support behind Johnson, he would make some real noise.

4/21/2011 2:14:27 PM

Why would they? It sounds like they're diametrically opposed to most of his policies.

4/21/2011 2:25:13 PM

Quote :

"^^ did you purposefully cut off my statement that he'll be this cycle's Ron Paul?"

I actually didn't even get that far. Short attention span

Quote :

"Actually, scratch that. There is a slim chance that he could win a few states, due to the sheer ineptitude of the rest of the field. If the Tea Party were to throw their money and support behind Johnson, he would make some real noise."

I'm with you on the ineptitude, on either side of the field. Too bad the public is equally inept.

4/21/2011 2:28:25 PM

Libertarians are republicans that want to smoke dope and get laid.

4/21/2011 2:58:48 PM

What's his environmental policy?

4/21/2011 3:00:42 PM

http://www.issues2000.org/Governor/Gary_Johnson_Environment.htm

4/21/2011 3:03:10 PM

I like that he didn't lump environmental policy in with talk about energy. Kudos to him.

4/21/2011 3:11:18 PM

^^^^^^that's a common misconception from those of you on the far left. Please point out where the tea party is officially opposed to abortion, marijuana, defense cuts, gay marriage, etc. Before Palin and Bachmann attempted to hijack the group, the tea party's platform was all about cutting spending. Gary Johnson has mad street cred as a fiscal conservative.

[Edited on April 21, 2011 at 3:18 PM. Reason : 2]

4/21/2011 3:17:43 PM

Johnson isn't "pro abortion". He just wants it dealt with at the state level.

Obviously anyone who followed along could have seen this coming, but I'm still excited now that it's official. He's probably going to be my favorite candidate running - dude is just an all around beast. I got to hang out with him for about an hour last year, and he is the exact same in person as on TV. I can't even say that about my boy RP, either.

I just REALLY, REALLY hope that he gets let in all the debates, particularly since both Romney and Huckabee (former governors) will be in them. He'll just be all "how many spending bills did you veto as governor" and "how many government jobs did you cut in your state". NO ONE has a record even remotely close to his in terms of actually cutting the size and scope of government. I hope that get's noticed by the neocons.

4/21/2011 4:02:04 PM

Quote :

" I've made a lot of money on China by the way, a lot of money with China. I would say we are going to put a 25 percent tax on all your products coming in, and that's going to do a number of things," Trump said. "

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42662505/Trump_Threatens_China_Nicely_on_Import_Tax

4/21/2011 5:15:04 PM

Quote :

"that's a common misconception from those of you on the far left. Please point out where the tea party is officially opposed to abortion, marijuana, defense cuts, gay marriage, etc. Before Palin and Bachmann attempted to hijack the group, the tea party's platform was all about cutting spending. Gary Johnson has mad street cred as a fiscal conservative."

You're talking about some magical idealized Tea Party that doesn't exist in the real world. The vast majority of people who call themselves Tea Party members and voters are anti-choice, anti-marijuana, pro-war, and anti-gay marriage.

4/21/2011 8:18:40 PM

Some guy at the gym had 'Trump Obama' stickers yesterday.

I would've but he was bigger than me.

4/21/2011 8:20:54 PM

^^ oh, bullshit. That's just what you've been led to believe by those fucking hack sites that you read. That's not to say that there aren't a lot of idiots in the Tea Party (there are) but this whole spiel about the party being full of racist, homophobic bible-thumpers has been blown way out of proportion by a press that is very eager to cast them as such.

The Tea Party was, and is, primarily concerned with spending cuts. Don't be surprised when they throw their weight behind Gary Johnson.

[Edited on April 21, 2011 at 8:52 PM. Reason : 2]

4/21/2011 8:46:09 PM

Quote :

"Obviously anyone who followed along could have seen this coming, but I'm still excited now that it's official. He's probably going to be my favorite candidate running - dude is just an all around beast."

4/21/2011 8:48:08 PM

^^ Is the Tea Party cohesive enough yet to say they’re mostly concerned with one thing? there still seems to be tons of religious right influence with them.

4/21/2011 8:58:30 PM

The common thread that ties them together is a desire to reduce the size and scope of the federal government.

You've got the libertarian Tea Partiers, who believe in strict constitutional interpretation of governance and non-interventionist foreign policy. You've got the Palin crowd, who are misguided conservative populists that don't know shit but love to share their opinions. And you've got a small fringe of racists and bible-thumpers that the media loves to focus on. But the official party platform is all about reducing spending, regulation, taxes and eliminating the affordable care act.

4/21/2011 9:10:58 PM

Don’t polls show though that a bulk of tea partiers are going to be the palin crown and the bible thumpers, with a fringe being the libertarians? In this case, you’d have to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Libertarians should just be libertarians. They do us all a dis-service by lumping themselves in with tea baggers.

4/21/2011 9:14:56 PM

Which polls? I'd be interested in seeing them.

My understanding is that the Palin-ites are the vocal minority that have hijacked the message, with the media's help.

EDIT: Here is an infographic:



On the one hand, Palin and Glenn Beck have more support than Ron Paul in terms of who represents them. On the other, 34% answered "No one".

But look at their motivations:

1. Spending / deficit
2. Size / scope of government
3. Protecting the Constitution
4. Voter education (?)
5. Economy
6. Taxes
7. States Rights
8. Free market issues
9. Affordable Care Act
...

Same sex marriage and abortion rights represented the biggest issue of less than 1% of those identifying as tea partiers.


[Edited on April 21, 2011 at 9:38 PM. Reason : 2]

4/21/2011 9:19:44 PM

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/04/poll-45-percent-of-republicans-think-obama-was-born-in-another-country.html
Poll: 45% of Republicans don't think Obama was born in the USA

4/22/2011 1:21:15 AM

More thoughts on Johnson: while I consider Ron Paul to be a great philisophical leader, I can certainly see some areas where he has an edge. He doesn't have the name recognition, but in this case, that's a good thing: Paul has been branded as a lunatic by those on the left and right, who will simply have nothing to do with his candidacy. Johnson doesn't take such a hard line on foreign policy - it's clear that he takes national defense very seriously. Johnson has executive experience - Ron Paul has been voting no anything unconstitutional for thirty years, but the modern day Presidency involves shaping policy, and I think Johnson just has that experience.

On a more superficial level, Johnson has another big advantage over Paul - appearance is, unfortunately or not, almost everything. Johnson is younger. As some have mentioned, he's a complete badass, and much more likely to garner the support of alpha male types. Even their manner of speaking differs; Ron Paul is fairly soft spoken, sometimes fumbles his verbal delivery, whereas Gary Johnson is a strong, confident orator.

Both guys are great and will continue to have my respect, but if I have to be honest, Johnson may be more electable and more effective while in office. When you line Johnson up to these other "contenders," no one cones close in terms of credibility.

4/22/2011 12:59:37 PM

Johnson has a lot going for him, but "strong, confident orator" isn't how many people would describe him. In fact, many would say that he's not ready for prime-time, and his grasp of the details and nuances of governance leaves something to be desired. He comes off as a bit quirky, talking about the "Zen" of good governance.

At least, that's what I read in The Atlantic.

4/22/2011 1:10:43 PM

Theoretically, all Johnson should have to do is get up during a debate and says "I cut taxes mother fucking 14 times, and didn't raise them once...AND I got re-elected in a state that is 2:1 democrat". Then he ought to turn to Romney and ask him how many government jobs he cut, or how many spending bills he vetoed and watch him scramble.

Fuck all these people who like certain candidates because of their "business" track record (I'm looking at you Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, etc.). I want someone who has a record of actually making the government smaller.

4/22/2011 2:38:26 PM

fyi, Trump isn't running. It's all smoke and mirrors.

4/23/2011 12:21:15 PM

New Mexico has the highest poverty rate by a wide margin of the main border states (and is among the highest one nationally), and an average, at best, unemployment rate for those states. This doesn’t seem like policy effects we’d want to replicate at the national level, unless you love poverty.

4/23/2011 1:15:17 PM

It's not the government's job to stop poverty or help people.

4/23/2011 1:48:00 PM

… unless those people are billionaire robber-barons with pseudo-government influence. Then THOSE people must be protected at all costs.

4/23/2011 2:05:11 PM

Yall need to start thinking more in the lines of 2016, even a weak Obama will beat anyone in the GOP field as of right now. The dems might be in the same pickle as the GOP in 2016, that is when it will be really wide open (unless Hillary decides to run).



[Edited on April 23, 2011 at 2:37 PM. Reason : maybe you can get Jeb Bush to run in 2016, Bush vs Clinton...yawn....]

4/23/2011 2:35:38 PM

Quote :

"New Mexico has the highest poverty rate by a wide margin of the main border states (and is among the highest one nationally), and an average, at best, unemployment rate for those states. This doesn’t seem like policy effects we’d want to replicate at the national level, unless you love poverty."

Regardless of what you think the role of government is or should be, you have to have a balanced budget. You can't just run deficits and rack up more and more debt and think it's okay. You aren't throwing a bone to the poor by keeping this show going. If you want widespread poverty, then we're on the right path to get it.

4/23/2011 2:43:21 PM

Quote :

"New Mexico has the highest poverty rate by a wide margin of the main border states (and is among the highest one nationally), and an average, at best, unemployment rate for those states. This doesn’t seem like policy effects we’d want to replicate at the national level, unless you love poverty."

Do you have any ready links to how their economy did under Johnson? I tried to do a search but noting popped out on the first page.

4/23/2011 3:01:38 PM

Ron Paul will announce tommorrow

4/25/2011 9:16:20 PM

^From what I read he is just forming an exploratory committee, not declaring or making any decisions tomorrow. Still, it seems like short notice with the first round of the GOP debates starting 9 days from tomorrow.

4/25/2011 10:03:09 PM

News headlines are saying he's running.

He was just on the Colbert report... he's getting old.

4/25/2011 11:59:32 PM

getting?

4/26/2011 12:01:15 AM

Donald Trump: Barack Obama too dumb for Ivies
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53694.html

This has to make even you Obama haters bristle.

4/26/2011 1:01:33 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77rtyQf6Hwk&feature=player_embedded

South Carolina Trump Supporters LOL


(yes I realize some of the people in the video appear to be homeless and legitimately crazy)

4/26/2011 8:40:35 AM

Trump is a fucking magnificent troll, I will give him that

4/26/2011 10:23:20 AM

How many billionaires do you know that need a job on NBC?

4/26/2011 12:44:05 PM

Just heard Haley Barbour for the first time ever talking about the tornado damage and such...and, umm...the fuck? This guy is actually being talked about by people as someone that should run for President?

4/29/2011 6:06:27 PM

"Tim Pawlenty makes Al Gore look like RuPaul"

5/1/2011 10:05:58 AM

^haha, got damn

5/1/2011 10:17:09 AM

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/04/oops-mitt-romney-suggests-hanging-obama/238090/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFMCQJTPrVU

5/1/2011 10:26:12 AM

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54037.html
Donald Trump pushes back at prez jokes

5/1/2011 1:04:34 PM

Trump got OWNED!

5/1/2011 8:41:47 PM