Gary Johnson To Run In 2012

For Republican candidates running in 2012, the crowd keeps getting bigger and bigger. Another Republican, Gary Johnson, has made the leap to run for President: 

"Politico.com reports that a Johnson advisor said the former governor will skip the step of creating an exploratory committee, opting for an immediate start to his bid for the GOP nomination."

Who is Gary Johnson? 

To be honest, I've never heard of Gary Johnson until the news started reporting that he was running in 2012. In all the research I've done on him, he appears to be very much like Ron Paul and share the same libertarian views on domestic and foreign policy issues. 

Gary Johnson's Domestic Policy Views

Gary Johnson will be running as a Republican but he will be promoting fierce libertarian approach to domestic issues in America. One article outlines some of his positions: 

"For one, Johnson wants to legalize marijuana, and he likes to talk about it. He first raised the issue as governor, and he makes the fiscal case for drug law reforms with talk about the cost to taxpayers of law enforcement and prisons. He would have signed a bill banning late-term abortions, he told me, but he supports abortion rights until viability of a fetus. He enjoys ripping into hard-line immigration policies, as he has called for more visas for American-educated students and future businesspeople."

Another article gives provides additional issues that Gary Johnson will most likely talk about on the campaign trail: 

On other issues, Johnson doesn't bother to hide his disdain for his party's hard-liners. Take the incendiary new immigration law passed in Arizona, for instance: 

"I just don't think it's going to work," he says. "I think it' s going to lead to racial profiling. I don't how you determine one individual from another -- is it color of skin? -- as to whether one is an American citizen or the other is an illegal immigrant." 

Johnson favors an expansive guest worker program and is uncomfortable with the idea of mass deportations. What about the idea of increasing security by means of a border wall? 

"I have never been supportive of the wall," he replied. "A 10-foot wall [just] requires an 11-foot ladder."

Gary Johnson's Foreign Policy Views

Like Ron Paul, Gary Johnson is an isolationist/non-interventionist. He opposes the war in Iraq and Afghanistan: 

"Gary Johnson opposed the war in Iraq as Governor of New Mexico and believes that the United States should withdraw our troops from both Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as effectively possible, believing that neither country poses a current threat to the US.

The United States should not be borrowing money to build roads, bridges, schools and other infrastructure in foreign countries, especially when such help is currently needed at home. Non-military foreign aid around the world is something we can not currently afford."

 However, unlike Ron Paul, he does support Israel and would protect that country militarily if needed:

"Governor Johnson supports the right of Israel to exist as a sovereign country and believes that the United States should protect that right militarily if needed."

That is one big difference between him and Ron Paul. Ron Paul doesn't support Israel and doesn't believe we should be providing fiinancial or military support to that country. At least Gary Johnson does. However, his support for Israel contradict his isolationist/non-interventionist positions with respect to other conflicts around the world.

Aren't Ron Paul And Gary Johnson The Same?

Even though he's placed in the same political category as Ron Paul, Gary Johnson insists that there's a big difference between Ron Paul and himself:

Though frequently compared with Paul, the libertarian movement’s closest thing to a standard-bearer, Johnson has been distancing himself from the comparison. While they’re both libertarians, Johnson said, his reputation as “Gov. No” is different from Paul’s moniker “Dr. No.” He has emphasized his record as a governor who was prolific in using his veto pen.

“There was a big difference between Ron Paul and me when it came to the ‘no,’” Johnson recently told POLITICO. “His ‘no’ was philosophical. It was reasoned. It was right. My ‘no’ actually put a stop to legislation. It cut spending. Mine carried further than just ‘no.’ I had to follow through with the debate, discussion and dialogue on why my ‘no’ wouldn’t result in people starving, schools being shut down and the delivery of services to the poor wasn’t going to be curtailed.”

The difference, according to Gary Johnson, is that he's more philosophical in saying "no" whereas Ron Paul isn't. This not a big difference. Its a minor one. Its splitting hairs.They both still say no.

The truth is, there is no difference between these two men. Ron Paul admires Gary Johnson. Gary Johnson endorsed Ron Paul in the 2008 Presidential Primaries:

"When Paul ran for president in 2008, Johnson was the highest ranking public official to endorse him. He later spoke at the “Rally for the Republic,” a parallel Minneapolis convention held when Paul was not invited to speak at the Republican National Convention.

“I love Ron Paul,” Johnson declared to loud applause. “We need to abolish the Federal Reserve.”

They remain friendly. In November, Johnson swung through Texas for several Our America events and paid Paul a visit."

And Ron Paul has said that he would endorse Gary Johnson if he runs in this upcoming election: 

"And Paul has said repeatedly he could support Johnson if the former governor ran for president in 2012.

“He’s the most libertarian person — other than myself — that has been talking about it,” Paul told POLITICO in late December."

As much as Gary Johnson likes to protest that he's not the same as Ron Paul, there is really little difference between these two men:

"With the exception of immigration and abortion, the two men speak in harmony on just about every issue. Paul ran for president under the Libertarian Party banner in 1988, and the Libertarian Party unsuccessfully tried to recruit Johnson as a presidential candidate in 2000."

Gary Johnson is pretty much like Ron Paul except that they disagree with each other on immigration, abortion and supporting Israel. However, there is one additional major difference between these two men. Unlike Ron Paul, at least Gary Johnson, as far as I know, doesn't hang out with racists and collect campaign checks from them.