Gary Johnson

[Hofstadter]

Since there's a Romney thread going... Why not?

he seems to me to be pretty much 100% in line with standard libertarian views, nothing that unique about him, but I think he is worth discussing. I like his social policy a lot (ending the war on drugs, support for marriage equality) as well as his belief that all troops should be brought home immediately (the more liberal sides of his platform), however being raised very liberally, his fiscal planks are what I disagree with a lot. I simply don't ever see how cutting taxes can help in any way - but since I unfortunately can't cote this fall (I turn 18 in February), I won't talk too much about this stuff - I'd love to hear you guys talk about him though, seeing as you should all have more knowledge as he will be on the ballot that you guys are actually voting on.

Right now, I just think it would be awesome if he got to that 15% that he needs to enter the debates - I think it would really force Obama and Romney to talk more about issues that probably wouldn't come to light if Johnson wasn't there.

So yeah, what are your thoughts on him? Oh and since I didn't mention it before, he is the libertarian party's candidate and will be the only person in addition to Obama and Romney to be on the ballot in all 50 states.

[redcloud]

I strongly feel that this country needs a viable third party to shake things up and break the status quo. I too would love to see Johnson in the debates.

[jadams501]

The problem with the U.S. constitutional system, which I generally think is pretty brilliant (to the degree it's been followed) in the separation of powers and so forth, is that so many votes are simple majority so structurally the system encourages there to be exactly two sides to every issue, with little room for compromise or alternative visions of the issues. A lot of people find the third party idea very appealing, but when push comes to shove in the ballot box people tend to get cold feet and go with whatever side they're more emotionally invested in.

The idea of the third party candidate has become a bit more respectable in the last few cycles because the liberal-leaning press expects that such a campaign would split the right and give Obama a sizable victory. Whereas a decade ago, people were fuming that Ralph Nader supposedly stole the election from Al Gore.