Johnson Gets Hearty Welcome at UNM

THIRD PARTIES

By Michael Coleman Journal Washington Bureau

Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson brought his struggling campaign home to New Mexico on Tuesday and received a hero’s welcome from several hundred people who gathered to hear him speak at the University of New Mexico, his alma mater.

Johnson, who served two terms as governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, arrived in Albuquerque on Tuesday to cap off a 13-city university tour that took him from coast to coast. Sporting jeans and a blazer with a peace sign T-shirt underneath, Johnson didn’t look like a traditional presidential candidate. He didn’t sound like one, either.

The fiscally conservative and socially liberal candidate said the U.S. government should end economic sanctions on Iran and trade with the Iranians instead. He vowed, if elected, to slash Medicare and military spending by 43 percent. Many in the crowd leapt to their feet as Johnson promised to bring American troops home from Afghanistan immediately, legalize marijuana and abolish the Federal Reserve.

Johnson also said that if he had been president after Sept. 11, he “would have vetoed the Patriot Act,” which greatly enhanced government surveillance powers.

Perhaps Johnson’s biggest applause came when he challenged those who say his campaign, which has received little major media attention, is a waste of time and that a vote for him is a wasted vote.

“What is more of a wasted vote than voting for someone you don’t believe in?,” an increasingly animated Johnson shouted, prompting wild applause and chants of “Gary! Gary! Gary!”

Johnson, 59, initially sought the Republican presidential nomination, but he was not invited to participate in most televised primary debates and never gained much traction in polls. The former Republican governor abandoned his Republican presidential bid in December and sought the Libertarian Party nomination instead.

Johnson secured the Libertarian nomination in May and is on the ballot in at least 47 states, including New Mexico.

Despite his struggles, Johnson vowed to run hard through Election Day.

“There is no quit in this guy you are listening to right now – no quit,” he said during his speech Tuesday.

Like Ron Paul, Johnson seems to have a strong following among students and young people. Adam Ornelas, a UNM senior majoring in political science, is one of them.

“He represents a silent majority,” Ornelas said. “The other candidates are really polarizing. Gary Johnson isn’t afraid to say what a lot of people are thinking.”
— This article appeared on page A6 of the Albuquerque Journal