With the 2012 race taking some time to coalesce, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and his libertarian views may be crowded out by talk – stoked at a major conservative conference this week – that Rep. Ron Paul will make another bid for the presidency.
But on ABC’s “Top Line” today, Johnson told us that having both he and Paul, R-Texas, in the field is good for libertarian-leading Republicans.
“Republicans need to grow their base. So I think the fact that there are a couple people talking about the same thing -- arguably Ron Paul and myself -- I think that's a good thing,” said Johnson, R-N.M. “It needs to grow from where Ron Paul was in the last election cycle if these ideas are going to successful.”
As for his own potential candidacy, he said: “I wouldn't be sitting here right now if the response hasn't been really well over the last 14 months. I was kind of -- I live in Taos, N.M. I live there because the skiing is as good as any on the planet. And that's my passion, and I was kind of looking to get egged or tomatoed to send [me] back there.”
