Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is up on YouTube with a cutting-edge new ad touting his unique resume in a bid to drum up enthusiasm for a potential presidential campaign in 2012.
The short animated video, set to propulsive techno music, describes him as a tax cutting, Mt. Everest hiking, successful businessman. It makes no mention of his controversial support for drug legalization.
A website listed on the YouTube clip and promoting him as a presidential candidate says it is "not authorized by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Gary Johnson himself."
Johnson seems to have attracted many of those who supported maverick Republican Ron Paul's presidential bid last year.
Meanwhile, there is a lobbying effort afoot to get the former Republican governor on the Daily Show.
Johnson, in a short phone interview a few moments ago, said he's creating a 527 political action committee within a matter of days to "talk about the issues of the day." He said the 527 rules prohibit him from speaking as a candidate, and he wouldn't answer questions about whether he intends to run.
I asked him about two issues - Afghanistan and drug legalization.
On Afghanistan, Johnson said he supports a strong military but sees no immediate threat from Afghanistan so he wouldn't support sending more troops there.
On drug legalization, his stance hasn't changed.
"I think we should legalize marijuana and adopt a harm reduction strategy regarding all other drugs - that would be decriminalization in a nutshell," Johnson said.
But he also added a familiar caveat to anyone who has followed him on this issue through the years:
"Don't do drugs."
And Steve Terrell of the New Mexican had this story on Johnson's potential candidacy last week.
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