Why Rand Paul Supporters Should Vote for Gary Johnson

Smitty said:
If Johnson was a strong, libertarian candidate with a good grasp of Austrian economics, he still wouldn't win. But he'd be able to go on the debate stage with Trump and Hillary and give reasoned arguments for the libertarian ideology.

But considering the crap he's been spewing, you better hope he doesn't get enough support to put himself on the stage with Trump.

Libertarians would never recover from it.

Johnson isn't the Libertarian candidate you want to see finally hit 15%.

He's not Harry Browne.
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Damn, I almost gave a plus rep to Smitty.
 
69360 said:
What a load of crap. If you can't vote for a decent honest good guy like Johnson with some ambiguous excuse like that, you will never find anyone to vote for.
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Oh noes!! "Please, Br'er Fox, don't fling me in dat brier-patch!"
 
Smitty said:
If Johnson was a strong, libertarian candidate with a good grasp of Austrian economics, he still wouldn't win. But he'd be able to go on the debate stage with Trump and Hillary and give reasoned arguments for the libertarian ideology.

But considering the crap he's been spewing, you better hope he doesn't get enough support to put himself on the stage with Trump.

Libertarians would never recover from it.

Johnson isn't the Libertarian candidate you want to see finally hit 15%.

He's not Harry Browne.
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That hadn't even occurred to me.

Remember Johnson's performance in the 2012 GOP primary debates?

Yeah, me neither ...

Origanalist said:
Damn, I almost gave a plus rep to Smitty.
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I actually did give him one.

Whatever you might think of pro-Trump folk, that was a cogent and excellent point.
 
Occam's Banana said:
That hadn't even occurred to me.

Remember Johnson's performance in the 2012 GOP primary debates?

Yeah, me neither ...



I actually did give him one.

Whatever you might think of pro-Trump folk, that was a cogent and excellent point.
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Yes, it was.
 
69360 said:
This is a good example of how you will never be effective. Somebody intends to vote for the libertarian party candidate and they hate freedom? :rolleyes:
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A political party is not elected to office. A person is and Johnson sucks. Clear now?
 
Abortion's a bit touchy but I understand his POV- that said, I do not see anything here not to support:

http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/gary-...ay-marriage-marijuana-cannabis-foreign-policy

Johnson, a self-made millionaire who served two terms as governor of New Mexico as a Republican, has been polling in the high single digits and is poised to earn the highest vote share of a third party candidate since Ross Perot in 1996. His running mate is former Massachusetts governor William “Bill” Weld, who was named the party’s vice presidential candidate during its convention in May.

Like many Libertarians, Johnson projects himself as socially liberal, fiscally conservative and dovish on foreign policy.

Here’s a look at where he stands on the issues:

1. Johnson Supports Gay Marriage & Called It ‘a Question of Liberty & Freedom’

As a presidential candidate in 2011, Johnson released a press statement officially endorsing gay marriage, citing individual freedoms and “keeping government out of personal lives.” Johnson’s statement said he “long supported civil unions” and concluded “government has no business choosing who should be allowed the benefits of marriage and who should not.”

“For a very long time, society has viewed gay marriage as a moral and, yes, religious issues. Today, I believe we have arrived at a point in history where more and more American are viewing it as a question of liberty and freedom,” his statement said.

Johnson joined a number of conservative political operatives in filing court documents in opposition to California’s Proposition 8, a statewide referendum to ban gay marriage, The New York Times reported in 2013.

In a 2010 op-ed piece in the Huffington Post titled “Let’s Finally End ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” Johnson urged Congress to repeal the policy banning gays in the military. Johnson argued that the United States is one of the only significant military powers in the world clinging to such a and pointed to a national poll showing 77 percent of Americans in favor of DADT’s repeal.

“Likewise, as has been widely documented, more than twenty of our NATO allies…allow gay men and women to serve openly, and the sky has not fallen,” Johnson wrote.

2. Johnson Has Been Mostly Supportive of Abortion Rights
Gary Johnson abortion rights, Gary Johnson pro choice

During this campaign cycle, Johnson has continuously voiced support for abortion rights, even though he favored limiting those rights to the viability of the fetus as a presidential candidate in 2012. He opposes funding stem cell research.

Johnson told audience members during the Libertarian Party debate in April that he is pro-choice. In a June interview, Johnson told the Daily Caller he doesn’t “even want to enter into the argument.”

“I want to give women choice in dealing with that issues, period. Unbelievably difficult decision,” he told the site. I’m going to make it for a woman? Government’s going to make it for a woman? I don’t want to play a part in that role.”

Similarly, Johnson told Rolling Stone in 2011 that he supports a woman’s right to choose “up until viability of the fetus,” although public funding shouldn’t be used for abortions.

3. He Was Nicknamed ‘Governor No’ for His Propensity to Veto Spending Bills as Governor of New Mexico

As New Mexico’s Republican governor from 1995 to 2003, Johnson earned a “B” rating from the free-market, conservative think tank, The Cato Institute, for proposals to reduce income taxes on top-earners and never increasing the cigarette tax – a move other governors, both Republican and Democrat, tackled.

Earning the nickname “Governor No” for his record-setting number of vetoes against increased government spending, Johnson instead looked for private companies to build things like highways.

Johnson line-item vetoed $5 million to expand Medicare and Medicaid in a statewide budget — a move he said he would repeat at the national level.

“I would have the federal government cut Medicare and Medicaid by 43 percent and block grant the programs [to the states] with no strings,” Johnson said in a 2011 interview with Scott Holleran. “Instead of giving the states one dollar – and it’s not really giving because there are strings attached – the federal government needs to give the states 57 cents, take away the strings and give the states carte blanche for how to give health care to the poor.”


4. Johnson Supports the Legalization of Marijuana & Was CEO of a Medical Marijuana Company

A former CEO of a medical marijuana company, Gary Johnson said he would legalize marijuana if elected president. (Getty)

Not only does Johnson support legalizing marijuana, but he also worked for the medicinal marijuana industry – a job he stepped away from when he launched his latest presidential campaign.

Named CEO of Cannabis Sativa, Johnson wrote up the business’s mission statement: The company “believes cannabis is destined to become the next gold rush and we’re prepared to shape its future in a legal environment.”

Citing a poll which shows 56 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, Johnson told the Telegraph he is “the only one still to this day – at the level of a state governor or U.S. Congressman – who advocates marijuana legalization.

“Not one elected official at this level has agreed with the American people. Not one. Legislation is going to happen anyway and I can’t think of a bigger public policy disconnect than the one we are talking about right now,” he told the paper.

Johnson also predicts President Obama will deschedule marijuana as a Class I narcotic, removing weed from the top tier of controlled substances.

“I think every municipality has to realize that all the planes to Denver every single weekend are filled up, and they’re missing out, and Colorado is absolutely vibrant,” he told the Washington Times. “Is it due to marijuana? I think it’s a contributing factor.”

Johnson, however, told USA Today he stopped consuming pot to focus on his campaign.

“I want to be completely on top of my game, all cylinders,” he told the newspaper.
CNN Libertarian Town Hall Live Stream: How to Watch Online

5. He’s a Regular Critic of American Military Intervention

Johnson has taken the opportunity to condemn President George W. Bush’s ongoing “War on Terrorism” and President Obama’s escalation of drone strikes, declaring both options as unjustifiable means of war, even though during a 2011 interview on Fox News he said, “initially, Afghanistan was totally warranted.”

“When it comes to drones,” Johnson said in a November 2015 interview with Reason, “I think it makes a bad situation even worse. We end up killing innocents and fueling hatred as opposed to containing it. It just hasn’t worked.”

Since at least 2011, when he stepped on the national stage, Johnson has opposed American involvement in Iraq, Libya and Syria. Johnson has instead cited government spending, rather than terrorism, as “the biggest threat” to the country.
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dannno said:
I just remember thinking, "what the hell is he doing running against Ron Paul??"
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I always thought he was trying to be Ron Paul's wingman in the debates. Remember him saying Ron Paul would be his first choice for VP?

Think it was also about raising his profile to run in the LP.
 
I like Gary as a person and have no problem with him. He is simply not better then Trump in strategy and overall policy. Plus also the fact that 3rd party should not be voted for in this election.

As far is his policies being sell out in parts and him not being fully liberty for me that doesn not matter because he did not have my vote in the first place. Why spend time thinking about it?

There were also some red flags about him but as I said I am not following him.
 
silverhandorder said:
I like Gary as a person and have no problem with him. He is simply not better then Trump in strategy and overall policy. Plus also the fact that 3rd party should not be voted for in this election.

As far is his policies being sell out in parts and him not being fully liberty for me that doesn not matter because he did not have my vote in the first place. Why spend time thinking about it?

There were also some red flags about him but as I said I am not following him.
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Lol... I can understand not voting for Johnson. There are many reasons why he isn't ideal. And there are some concerns as well.

But what I can't possibly understand is how someone could choose Trump over Johnson! That makes absolutely ZERO sense. Where Johnson is bad, Trump is worse. On every policy. Whatever mindspell has been cast over someone to get this to make logical sense in their heads must not work on me.
 
CaptUSA said:
Lol... I can understand not voting for Johnson. There are many reasons why he isn't ideal. And there are some concerns as well.

But what I can't possibly understand is how someone could choose Trump over Johnson! That makes absolutely ZERO sense. Where Johnson is bad, Trump is worse. On every policy. Whatever mindspell has been cast over someone to get this to make logical sense in their heads must not work on me.
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Well we have to start with the fact that of the two Trump stands infinity better chance of being elected.
 
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