Gary Johnson Embarrassing Gary Johnson Political Ad

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I wish there was a decent candidate for the general election with more campaigning sense than Gary Johnson. Sadly, he will be my only option. I will abide his antics, but he's not going to get into the debates acting like this.

Gary Johnson could catch presidential race by surprise

By Douglas E. Schoen
Published May 12, 2012
FoxNews.com


With his name slated to be on every state ballot in the country in November, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is an important voice – bringing bold new ideas to the table that appeal to voters across the political spectrum.

Johnson, a Republican who served as governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, is running on a platform that includes slashing government spending to balance the federal budget by 2013, ending wars the U.S. in involved in, and drug reform -- beginning with the legalization of marijuana but extending all the way to the war on drugs, drug policy, relations with Latin America, and even law enforcement policies and priorities-- issues that neither of the two major candidates President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are pursuing right now.

Having received the Libertarian nomination in Las Vegas last weekend, Johnson must now cross a new threshold to ensure that his voice is heard and give these important initiatives a lot of exposure -- achieving the 15 percent required by the Commission on Presidential Debates to participate.

To date, Johnson has been polling between 6 and 9 percent nationally – several points shy of what he needs.

If the two parties continue to move to the extreme left and right, and if our economic situation continues to remain bleak, it is conceivable that a fresh face emerging would find a degree of responsiveness in a political environment that is as hostile as I have ever seen.

Last weekend, voters in Greece rejected both major political parties amid a dire fiscal situation there, while a disenchanted French electorate voted out President Nicolas Sarkozy. The European elections speak to a major anti incumbency trend that is likely to have profound implications for the 2012 presidential election.

Voters across the board are unsatisfied with the current political system. Most people think that neither party is effective at solving the country’s problems, congressional ratings are at an all-time low, and support for both the Democratic and Republican parties is on the decline.

Amid this toxic political climate, a recent poll put out by Harvard's Institute of Politics suggests Libertarian ideas are gaining traction with those age 18 to 29. Moreover, polling conducted by my firm, Douglas E. Schoen LLC, has found that there is a great deal of support for a third-party alternative to the current two-party system, and voters are receptive to voting for alternatives to the Democratic and Republican Presidential tickets in 2012.

With neither Obama nor Romney offering an overarching message that has been able to resonate with an electorate that is becoming increasingly cynical about anyone's ability to fix this country’s ongoing, trenchant and most vexatious problems – Gary Johnson’s voice is one that needs to be heard.

Bottom line: At time of massive dissatisfaction with our political system, we need to expand rather than narrow the debate.


Douglas E. Schoen is a political strategist, Fox News contributor, author of the new book, “Hopelessly Divided: The New Crisis in American Politics and What it Means for 2012 and Beyond”

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/05/12/gary-johnson-could-catch-presidential-race-by-surprise/

 

[mport1]

I hope people don't waste money donating to his campaign and instead use it for something worthwhile that will promote liberty.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

...
"Baby, I'm with you" (surely?!) harkens back to YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY.

1.) BABY Boomers remember that.
2.) BABY Boom Women remember that even better.

The "gyrating hipster" speaks to several voting blocs with one spastic dance:

1.) iPod Youth (recall instant-classic billboard with silhouetted move-busters...America's gotta lotta DISILLUSIONED Obamamaniacs)
2.) "White Man's Overbite" (Wiggers turned out for Obama, big BIG time...fist-bumps all around)
3.) “Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on earth.” (Mark Twain)

Or it harkens back to this:

 

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Or it harkens back to this:

Yet ANOTHER very surprising, very BIG success.

Who'da pegged homely MIKE MYERS to "make it big"?

http://www.therichest.org/celebnetworth/tag/mike-myers-net-worth/

 

[mczerone]

Not really "embarrassing" - but it was a mixed message. There were two different 30 second ads in there that could have been good:

(1) Obama and Romney are out to destroy healthcare to benefit special interests, and Johnson is for making sure healthcare is itself in good health.

(2) An upbeat, "You are Libertarian" message with a dancing hipster and contrasting a "people's party" with the special interests of the Ds and Rs.

My biggest problem is that the ad said "Vote Libertarian for just ONE election" - as if there is no tectonic shift that needs to occur in people's thinking before they'll accept the bulk of the Libertarian ideals. It would be a better message to say "Vote Libertarian for the rest of your life, because there's no going back to the parties that don't care about your needs and desires." Or something similar that leaves the door open for supporting worthy individuals working in the dominant parties.

Or something along the lines of "This election is going to be different. We're all sick of the two parties not listening to the people and pitting us against each other. The Libertarians aren't a third party anymore - they're the best option to fix the country and get people working together again to solve our problems. You can continue to fight to get 50% of the people in D.C. to force solutions on the country, or you can get D.C. to stay out of your way to solve the problems YOUR way."

But saying "please vote for us, just this once!" sounds desperate, and won't win the big money donors who won't throw money down an ideological hole if there's no chance of winning. It admits that Johnson doesn't expect to win and needs to plead just for his 5-15% for ballot/debate access.

 

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I hope people don't waste money donating to his campaign and instead use it for something worthwhile that will promote liberty.

A blimp, perhaps? Or a lawsuit?

 

[matt0611]

It was ok up until the "baby" and the dancing guy in the background.

Wow, just wow

That was bad, really really bad.

 

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Not really "embarrassing" - but it was a mixed message.

Like I said, some things are harder to spin than others. I think this is NOT his best ad. Unless I decide to look at it as Gary Johnson deliberately getting edgier...ODDER to some, but definitely more OUT THERE.

I dunno what part of this REPUBLICAN PARTY TAKEOVER people don't get, but the Grand Old Party demands its OWN brand of homogeneity. "Democrats fall in love; Republicans fall in line."

There were two different 30 second ads in there that could have been good:

(1) Obama and Romney are out to destroy healthcare to benefit special interests, and Johnson is for making sure healthcare is itself in good health.

(2) An upbeat, "You are Libertarian" message with a dancing hipster and contrasting a "people's party" with the special interests of the Ds and Rs.

True. But at the same time, the "special interests" that support D's & R's that support Special Interests are very much on display in the Healthcare head-fake end-run.

Washington DC is one, big Mixed Message. Corrupt and "merely" incompetent Lawmakers and Enforcers, they ALL send Mixed Messages.

America is MIXED UP, at best. At worst, America is being manipulated down the river. AMERICANS are mixed up, and rightly so.

I DON'T MAKE THE RULES. As I understand the Game of Life via study and experience, there is a Shock Jock component to actualizing the infamous line from Network:

All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.

You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html

My biggest problem is that the ad said "Vote Libertarian for just ONE election" - as if there is no tectonic shift that needs to occur in people's thinking before they'll accept the bulk of the Libertarian ideals.

Too scary. YOU know a shift is occurring, and so do I. Millions and millions and millions of Americans "only" know SOMETHING IS DREADFULLY WRONG.

It would be a better message to say "Vote Libertarian for the rest of your life, because there's no going back to the parties that don't care about your needs and desires."

Because I have seen the Gary Johnson ads leading up to THIS ad, I know he previously added something very like "We can always vote Corruption & Incompetence back INTO office if we don't like Liberty." It would definitely be a mistake for his Ad Makers to assume Potential Voters have seen or WILL see an entire series of ads.

Or something similar that leaves the door open for supporting worthy individuals working in the dominant parties.

That is a different matter. During what's left of this "campaign season", facing virtually insurmountable hurdles on a shoestring budget, Gary Johnson cannot reasonably be expected to insert plugs for such "Good Guys" as obviously ARE under the two party umbrellas (tho they are equally obviously quite a bit less effective than the Bad Guys under the party umbrellas).

Or something along the lines of "This election is going to be different. We're all sick of the two parties not listening to the people and pitting us against each other. The Libertarians aren't a third party anymore - they're the best option to fix the country and get people working together again to solve our problems. You can continue to fight to get 50% of the people in D.C. to force solutions on the country, or you can get D.C. to stay out of your way to solve the problems YOUR way."

He HAS been saying that . . . check out the GIVING DONKEYS & ELEPHANTS THE BIRD ad.

But I again agree, and repeat that "his people" will NOT want to presume every Viewer/Voter sees every ad.

But saying "please vote for us, just this once!" sounds desperate

We are.

Seriously, the only people I meet who are NOT lurching unevenly toward the DESPERATE end of the spectrum have LOTS of money, OR an aloof and untouchable security, OR blissful ignorance.

...and won't win the big money donors who won't throw money down an ideological hole if there's no chance of winning.

There are "exceptions to the rule", OF COURSE. But generally speaking, Big Money does NOT throw money down ideological holes.

It admits that Johnson doesn't expect to win...

He'd sound STARK, RAVING MAD if he said he expected to win.

If his Ad Makers will reinsert the bit about WE CAN ALWAYS VOTE NINCOMPOOPS & N'ER-DO-WELLS BACK INTO OFFICE, the same line will exude more confidence about an EMPIRICALLY DOUBTFUL endeavor rather than invite MORE doubt about what everyone KNOWS is a doubtful endeavor.

...and needs to plead just for his 5-15% for ballot/debate access.

He DOES. That'd be the Broken System within which GOP TAKEOVER people insist we work.

 

[Origanalist]

Yet ANOTHER very surprising, very BIG success.

Who'da pegged homely MIKE MYERS to "make it big"?

http://www.therichest.org/celebnetworth/tag/mike-myers-net-worth/

Um...Mike Myers wanted people to laugh at him.

 

[Respect38]

I hope people don't waste money donating to his campaign and instead use it for something worthwhile that will promote liberty.

Because a liberty-loving Libertarian candidate doing well in the election doesn't promote liberty?

Yeah, sure...

 

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Um...Mike Myers wanted people to laugh at him.

He coulda been a FUNNY MAN for free, if all he wanted was for people to laugh at him.

Mike Myers wanted lots and lots and lots of people to lay down the ticket price, on the chance of getting what they wanted...in this case, to be amused/entertained.

Dark-horse, long-shot, outlier presidential "racers" WANT people to talk about them...indeed have little to lose if people laugh.

Gary Johnson CANNOT COMPETE with either Obama or Romney on fundraising. CANNOT, period. But Obama and Romney are FLIP SIDES OF THE SAME COIN...that is a legitimate card to play.

Not in Liberty Forest, "of course", but elsewhere I CAN draw an analogy between a vote for Gary Johnson and the PRICE OF ADMISSION for a movie..."just" to SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

It is anathema to GOP TAKEOVER PEOPLE but, out amongst Commoners who do NOT sing in this choir, I get a lotta traction with SEND A RESOUNDING 'FUCK YOU' TO BOTH PAR-TAAAYS...whose collective best thinking got us RIGHT where we are.

 

[Wren]

SIEGEL: By the way, what do you make of Congressman Paul's libertarianism which pointedly does not include respect for the reproductive rights of women?

JOHNSON: Well, that would be one of our differences. I also happen to think that Israel, you know, we were responsible for the creation of Israel and that was through the United Nations; that they've been a strong military ally, that they will remain such. I do not think a military threat right now exists from Iran, but we should be vigilant to that. And I think it's naive to think that Israel is not going to act in their best interests should there be weapons of mass destruction showing themselves.

SIEGEL: And you would say the U.S. should support an Israeli action in that case, if Israel were to act militarily?

JOHNSON: Well, I would argue that that would probably be in our best interest. And to have them do that is a better situation than U.S. men and servicewomen engaged in the same.

'Nuff said about Johnson and his 'libertarianism'

 

[Respect38]

'Nuff said about Johnson and his 'libertarianism'

First, source please... I could replace "Johnson" with "Paul", and say that same thing... sources are important.

Next, what's the problem with this, exactly? He said that Israel could defend itself if it sees it necessary, and then that it would be better than the United States going in there themselves. Both of these views are superior to his competitors, Romney and Obama...

 

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'Nuff said about Johnson and his 'libertarianism'

We are not comparing Gary Johnson with AnCaps and Peaceniks. He will be on the November ballot opposite Obama & Romney.

By your reasoning, Rand Paul is a stone-cold ASSHOLE for endorsing unapologetic War Monger Mitt Romney.

 

[Wren]

First, source please... I could replace "Johnson" with "Paul", and say that same thing... sources are important.

Next, what's the problem with this, exactly? He said that Israel could defend itself if it sees it necessary, and then that it would be better than the United States going in there themselves. Both of these views are superior to his competitors, Romney and Obama...

The problem? The problem is that GJ would assist Israel militarily if they went to war with Iran or any other country. That is no different than Obamneys position. Top that off with the acknowledgement that the UN created Israel and he still thinks we should support them
unconditionally

http://m.npr.org/story/144495487?ur...scusses-opting-to-seek-libertarian-nomination

 

[Respect38]

The problem? The problem is that GJ would assist Israel militarily if they went to war with Iran or any other country. That is no different than Obamneys position. Top that off with the acknowledgement that the UN created Israel and he still thinks we should support them
unconditionally

http://m.npr.org/story/144495487?ur...scusses-opting-to-seek-libertarian-nomination

I still don't see the logic in helping Robamney over this one statement, though, especially considering that there are many other positions that he has that are much more libertarian than Robamney. Hell, this was made in December, he may have changed his mind at this point? He has been threw a few Libertarian debates to get to this point, and has been asked to read, and has done so, some books, so I'd say he's still open to discussion on this point if he hasn't already.

 

[Respect38]

Oh, and speaking of those debates, checkmate.

A more recent statement: check. A more libertarian point: check.

 

[cheapseats]

The problem? The problem is that GJ would assist Israel militarily if they went to war with Iran or any other country. That is no different than Obamneys position. Top that off with the acknowledgement that the UN created Israel and he still thinks we should support them
unconditionally

http://m.npr.org/story/144495487?ur...scusses-opting-to-seek-libertarian-nomination

Whatever psycho-babble "underpins" it, the claim that Gary Johnson's position is "no different than Obamney's position" is plain FALSE.

Mitt Romney Has Some Very Disturbing Opinions On Presidential War Powers

DOUG MATACONIS · MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/mi...sturbing-opinions-on-presidential-war-powers/

Choosing who lives and who dies: the methodical assassinations of Barack Obama's 'kill list'

By David Blair World Last updated: May 30th, 2012

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/d...al-assassinations-of-barack-obamas-kill-list/

 

[Indy Vidual]

Some things are harder to spin than others, no doubt about it.

Still, I can put a better spin on this cringe-worthy ad than Jack Hunter can put on Rand Paul's endorsement of Mitt Romney (in June, on Hannity, punctuated with a pledge to CAMPAIGN for Romney).

"Baby, I'm with you" (surely?!) harkens back to YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY.

1.) BABY Boomers remember that.
2.) BABY Boom Women remember that even better.

The "gyrating hipster" speaks to several voting blocs with one spastic dance:

1.) iPod Youth (recall instant-classic billboard with silhouetted move-busters...America's gotta lotta DISILLUSIONED Obamamaniacs)
2.) "White Man's Overbite" (Wiggers turned out for Obama, big BIG time...fist-bumps all around)
3.) “Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like it's heaven on earth.” (Mark Twain)

+1 for fun

 

[Wren]

I still don't see the logic in helping Robamney over this one statement, though, especially considering that there are many other positions that he has that are much more libertarian than Robamney. Hell, this was made in December, he may have changed his mind at this point? He has been threw a few Libertarian debates to get to this point, and has been asked to read, and has done so, some books, so I'd say he's still open to discussion on this point if he hasn't already.

He is running for president. There is no learn-as-you-go course for presidential candidates. If he's constantly changing his stances on issues AS he's running for president, how is he any different than obamney? I'm not helping Obamney. I'm rejecting a weak candidate who has inconsistent positions and doesn't know enough about the issues.