Former New Mexico Governor, Gary Johnson was once voted the most fiscally conservative governor during his time in office beginning in 1995 and ending in 2003. He brought a business like mentality to governing and believed that public policy should be based on cost and benefits and not strict ideology.
Known as “Governor Veto” during his time in office, Johnson vetoed a record of 750 bills, a majority of which had to do with spending. When he left office, New Mexico was one of four states at the time to have a balanced budget. Also, during his time there, he received a grade of “A “ for his fiscal policies from the libertarian Cato Institute.
In 2012, Gary Johnson ran for the Presidency on the Republican ticket and only garnered one percent of the vote during the Republican primaries. He had an impact in one primary debate when he stated that his dog created more shovel ready jobs than Barack Obama did. When Johnson could not get over the one percent mark, he was shunned not only by major news networks that were covering the Republican primary debates, but also by the Republican establishment. It was after the New Hampshire primary, that Gary Johnson bolted the GOP and decided to become a presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party. He won the nomination, and though he was not included into the presidential debates, and though he lost, Johnson garnered more votes than any other Libertarian candidate before him.
There is the possibility that in 2016, Johnson will once again run on the Libertarian Party ticket. Though the odds of him getting into the presidential debates, and winning the presidential sweepstakes are very long, I strongly believe and I strongly hope that his voice and his positions on the issues of the day will be heard.
There are some issues where I personally disagree with Gary Johnson. For example, Johnson is an advocate of abortion-rights where I am not. Nevertheless, when it comes to defending civil and economic liberties, we are in agreement; When it comes having the federal government paired down to size, we are in agreement; When it comes to realizing that this nation is on an unsustainable path both fiscally and economically, we are in agreement; When he states that our entitlement programs (i.e. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) are unsustainable, we are in agreement; When he states that this nation must enact and must project both military and economic power, we are in agreement; When he states that wars should only be entered into only when U.S. interests are involved, we are in agreement; When it comes to sharing a love of freedom and a love for the U.S. Constitution, we are both in agreement; And, finally, when he states that the war on drugs has been a systematic and colossal failure, we are in agreement.
I do hope that people will give Gary Johnson a serious look and come to the conclusion that, yes, his voice should be heard.