“The whole point of this country is if you want to eat garbage, balloon up to 600 pounds and die of a heart attack at 43, you can! You are free to do so. To me, that’s beautiful.” – Ron Swanson, a character from the popular TV show Parks and Recreation.
A Libertarian, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “A person who believes that people should be allowed to do and say what they want without any interference from the government.” Like Ron Swanson, this election’s Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson perfectly emulates the ideals of the Libertarian party.
Born in Minot, North Dakota, on January 1st, 1953, Gary Earl Johnson is an American politician, businessman, author, and Libertarian nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election.
Background
Johnson, originally Republican, entered the world of politics in 1994 when he participated in the New Mexico Gubernatorial election. Emphasizing a slogan centered around the people before politics, Johnson successfully appealed to all sorts of people who favored tax-cuts, and less government intervention. He ended up winning the Republican nomination, defeating state legislator Richard P. Cheney by 34% to 33%. As governor, Johnson adhered to a strict small government approach, and by successfully reducing the 10% annual growth of the state government as promised, he pleased a great number of New Mexicans. However, by increasing the state’s school costs by ⅓, he also made some enemies.
4 years later, in 1998, Johnson ran for governor once again. In his campaign, Johnson promised to continue the policies of his first term: improving schools; cutting state spending, taxes, and bureaucracy; and frequent use of his veto and line-item veto power. Fielding a strong Hispanic candidate in a 40% Hispanic state, the Democrats were expected to oust Johnson, but Johnson won by a margin of 55% to 45%. By the end of his second term as governor of New Mexico, Johnson had successfully governed the State of New Mexico by improving budget issues and improving schools across the state.
In 2009, Johnson began indicating interest in running for president in the 2012 election. In the April 20, 2009 edition of The American Conservative magazine, Bill Kauffman told readers to “keep an eye out” for a Johnson presidential campaign in 2012, reporting that Johnson had told him that “he was keeping his options open for 2012” and that “he may take a shot at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 as an anti-war, anti-Fed, pro-personal liberties, slash-government-spending candidate—in other words, a Libertarian. He did, in fact, go on to run for president in the 2012 election, however not as a Libertarian but a Republican. Earlier in 2011, he had actually hinted at transferring over to the Libertarian Party, and after losing the Republican Candidate Election, he officially announced his intention to do so on May 13, 2012.
Post-2012
After 2012, Johnson decided to enter the race for 2016 President of the United States, as a Libertarian. Identified as a classic libertarian, he especially favors reducing taxes. He believes “government enjoys taxing the public,” and if elected the 2016 president, he will “work to emphasize the small business owner.”
He has also recently been promoted to CEO of Cannabis Sativa Inc, a company that works to distribute medical marijuana to states where is it legal. He accepted this position because of the belief that trying to crack down on marijuana use in illegal states is a “lost cause,” and our focus should lie elsewhere.
Jesuit Student Body and Staff
Mr. Wester, a former nominee for the Texas State Senate, and noted Libertarian, commented on Gary Johnson himself and a few aspects of the Libertarian party.
“Gary Johnson ran last cycle too and is the most well known Libertarian candidate, which is why he is running. Part of the problem with the Libertarian party is that while we run outside of the classic two-party dynamic, we are still trapped by two party politics. Johnson is the one I will be voting for because his beliefs best align with mine.”
Martin Flores ’17 also believed Johnson to be a trustworthy Libertarian candidate. “I think most people like Johnson because he’s not Hillary and not Trump. There’s a lot of appeal [for] a candidate who doesn’t seem too far to one side and still expresses a non-niche portion of the public’s beliefs.” Flores added, “I’m not giving my endorsement for any candidate given that I won’t be able to vote until March, but I’m skeptical of his recent ‘Aleppo moment’ because foreign policy dictates my voting paradigm heavily. We’ll have to see if that crosses people’s minds in the booths in November.”
Many students seemed to really like Gary Johnson’s ideas, one of these students being Lachlan Carton ’18, who believed Johnson’s ideas to be “smart.” He continued, “I like the way Libertarians focus on getting things done. It’s what moves us forward as a country.”
So for those of you who are frustrated with the seemingly intractable two party system, you can keep your head up knowing that Gary Johnson and the Libertarian party are breaking up the rear, providing a sensible option for those sick of the two party political system. This country needs a third party that is capable of appealing to all, and if you agree, you might want to consider voting Gary Johnson for the 2016 President of the United States.
