Two former governors said this week they are open to running for president on the Libertarian Party line.
Former Gov. Gary Johnson, R-N.M., was the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012 and he carried 1 percent of the popular vote. But this week, on his “Live Free” blog, Johnson insisted America was increasingly open to backing a fiscally conservative, socially liberal candidate.
“I firmly believe that the majority of Americans are, in fact, ‘conservative’ when it comes to the size and cost of government, while being socially ‘liberal’ when it comes to individuals being free to make their own choices and control their own lives,” Johnson noted. “That’s how I tried to govern, and what I believe today.
“Libertarians, broadly speaking, are fiscally conservative and socially liberal,” Johnson added. “The principles of less government and more freedom are there, and the experience of running as the candidate who could unapologetically advocate those principles was, well, liberating.”
Reflecting on his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, which lasted until the end of 2011 when he switched parties, and his experience as the Libertarian nominee, Johnson maintained that voters were tired of the major parties and ready for a change.
“I learned a lot about the American people -- the most important lesson being a confirmation that the real majority doesn’t relate to either the Republicans or the Democrats, and if given the opportunity, will exercise a degree of political independence never before seen in our history,” Johnson insisted. “Americans, and especially the Millennials who are rapidly assuming a dominant role in both society and the economy, are fed up with politicians who lie, who don’t really want to change anything, and for whom being elected and re-elected are ends in themselves.
“Now, those Americans are looking ahead to the 2016 election -- and if they are like me, they don’t like what they see,” Johnson continued. “Is there anything about the current field of candidates that even hints at changing the disastrous trends of recent years? We are seeing only slight nibbles around the edge of a tax code that is fundamentally wrong. An $18 trillion debt that threatens the very underpinnings of our economy and, in fact, our national security, is hardly mentioned, all while the politicians are obsessed with Hillary Clinton’s emails and a county clerk in Kentucky whose 15 minutes of fame have already lingered for too long.”
Johnson dismissed several of the Republican camps, including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., In the 2008 presidential race, Johnson backed the senator’s father then-U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.
“Unfortunately, Rand, in his quest to have one foot in the libertarian camp and the other in the establishment Republican museum, has emerged with a vague mix of positions that is clearly not compelling,” Johnson wrote. “There is a price to be paid for selling out -- and he is paying it.”
Johnson also offered his take on former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., insisting he was “fading fast as even ‘mainstream’ Republican voters are increasingly refusing to take their orders from party leaders and funders who think he should be president just because he’s a Bush.
“Fairly or not, ‘been there, done that’ isn’t working for a country that is absolutely fed up with business-as-usual,” Johnson added about Bush.
Johnson also offered his take on businessman Donald Trump, calling his campaign a “phenomenon” while insisting he was wrong on the issues.
“What does it say about the level of discontent that a professional salesman can launch a presidential campaign with a promise to build our very own Great Wall of China and a vague promise to ‘make America great again’ and can assemble a coalition of the pissed-off sufficient in size to make him the Republican standard-bearer?” Johnson asked.
On the other side of the aisle, Johnson compared former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Bush, calling her the Democratic “version of ‘been there, done that’ and ripping her “unbelievable lack of judgment involved in storing official, sensitive emails in a private server in a bathroom.” Johnson insisted U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was the Democratic equivalent of Trump, an option for frustrated voters to back instead of the establishment choice.
“What does all this tell me?” Johnson asked. “It tells me that America may finally be ready for a presidential candidate who does believe in the free market, but rejects crony capitalism and the subsidies, deals, bailouts and tax breaks that come with it. They may be ready for a candidate who actually governed a border state and doesn’t believe that a Great Wall is a substitute for immigration reform that today’s politicians cannot summon the courage to enact.
“Those Millennials who will soon be a full one-third of American adults may be ready to become engaged in politics with a candidate who wants to give them a government that will leave them alone, get its finances in order so that they don’t inherit an economic collapse, and stop labeling them as criminals for smoking a joint in the privacy of their own homes,” Johnson concluded. “And Americans who are rightfully and deeply concerned that a feckless foreign policy is allowing the likes of ISIS to not only threaten our safety, but humiliate us, may be ready for a candidate who will put politics aside and engage in reality-based foreign and military policies that actually fulfill government’s most basic responsibility to keep us -- and our freedoms -- safe. Maybe, just maybe, America is ready. And maybe that’s why I would want to run for president.”
But Johnson isn’t the only former governor who expressed interest in running for the Libertarian nomination this week. Former Gov. Jesse Ventura, I-Minn., floated a trial balloon when he appeared on Steve Malzberg’s show on Newsmax on Tuesday.
Like Johnson, Ventura ripped into the dynastic politics that Bush and Clinton represent.
"I could run against them [on the platform] that we fought a war with Britain so we don't have kings and queens," Ventura said. "I mean if Bush runs, that'd be the third Bush in how many years of my lifetime? Half of it? And if Clinton runs, it'll be their second? I thought we fought the British so we didn't have kings and queens."
The former Minnesota governor, who was elected on the Reform Party line but left that party during its chaotic presidential nomination process during the 2000 election cycle, said he was open to running as a Libertarian.
Ventura has said he would be open to being Trump’s running mate if the businessman leaves the GOP. But the former professional wrestler turned politician also expressed support for Johnson this week when he appeared on Alan Colmes’ radio show on Fox.
“I voted last time for Gov. Johnson, the Libertarian candidate,” Ventura told Colmes, adding he was exploring running again.
“You would challenge Johnson for the nomination?” Colmes asked.
“No, I would try to team up with him,” Ventura replied. “Johnson and Ventura.”
“How close are you?" Colmes asked. “Ventura and Johnson?”
“We’re pretty close,” Ventura answered, saying he would make up his mind about whether to run before Libertarians hold their convention in late spring. “ It will have to be made before the convention. They have the convention in late May, early June.”
“You talk to Gary about it?” Colmes asked.
“Not directly, but the Libertarians have contacted me, and have opened the door for me to come to the convention,” Ventura said.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
