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Michael Coleman JOHNSON'S RUN PROMISES A MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURE |
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Johnson's Run Promises a Most Excellent Adventure
By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
MANCHESTER, N.H. — If you thought Gary Johnson was all about business now that he's officially announced a presidential run, think again.
Sure, the restless former New Mexico governor donned a suit and tie last Thursday to announce his long-shot presidential campaign in New Hampshire. But two days later — still remaining in New Hampshire — Johnson slipped into some skis and assumed the "Adventure Gary" persona New Mexicans came to know during his two terms as governor.
On Saturday, accompanied by a Santa Fe-based writer from Outside magazine, Johnson scaled New England's most treacherous mountain — Tuckerman Ravine — and skied down. The picturesque peak, home to the fiercest surface wind ever recorded, gives way to the East Coast's most extreme descent, with a thrilling bonus of serious avalanche threats.
The adventure was vintage Johnson, a five-time Iron Man triathlete who now spends winters at Taos Ski Valley hiking Kachina Peak and skiing down. Johnson told me last week that the frostbite he got on his feet scaling Mount Everest in 2003 has slowed him a bit, primarily on the running trails. But he remains a remarkably fit and active 58-year-old man.
After spending a day with Johnson in New Hampshire, I've decided two things are certain: No one can doubt the determination of a man who has finished the Iron Man and climbed to the top of the world's tallest mountain with frostbite-blackened feet. And Johnson is going to need every ounce of his famous resolve even to make a respectable showing in New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary.
The governor arguably starts the contest in last place, even though he is now the first Republican to officially announce his campaign. Johnson has at least three things working against him — virtually no name recognition in New Hampshire, a somewhat low-watt public speaking style and that pesky pot thing.
Ah, the pot thing. Hey, I know a lot of smart, accomplished people believe our marijuana laws are out of sync with the times (though they are gradually evolving) and ridiculously expensive to enforce. However, this belief does not a successful presidential candidate make. Not yet, anyway. There's a reason President Obama doesn't want to touch this one with a 10-foot pole, even though he has suggested that he thinks the nation's drug laws should be re-evaluated and a sizable part of his constituency is clamoring for him to lead on the issue. Obama has an election to win next year.
Johnson rightly points out that his pro-marijuana legalization stance is only a part of his larger, consistent message of reining in government spending — in this case on drug interdiction and incarceration. The anti-tax governor even touts the idea of a levy on the herb in part because it helps sell the legalization argument to a public suddenly worried about government debt.
"It highlights what my message is, which is that everything the government does needs to be a cost-benefit analysis," Johnson told me in Concord, N.H., after announcing his presidential campaign Thursday morning.
He expressed some hope that his candidacy will eventually be known for more than the legalization thing, but he also acknowledged the reality.
"At least initially, I'm going to be the pot guy right out of the chute," Johnson said. "That's not anything I'm asking for, and I wish it weren't there, but I don't shy away from it at all."
My reporting in New Hampshire revealed what I suspected going in: Despite the state's reputation as an enlightened, libertarian-leaning and not necessarily socially conservative place, not everyone is comfortable with the pot thing. Johnson invited New Hampshire state lawmakers to lunch Thursday, and a couple dozen showed up. The ex-governor spent a full half-hour trying to persuade a table of skeptical female representatives to come around to his views on legalization.
A day before, the New Hampshire tea party's top guy told me he'd met Johnson and liked what he had to say about reining in federal spending, but the governor lost him with the pot thing.
Johnson seems to gladly and sincerely answer any question you throw at him. After a decade in Washington, you have no idea how refreshing that is to this reporter. But sensing my skepticism about the political viability of the pot thing, he warned me not to underestimate him. The self-made millionaire pointed out he came out of nowhere — with literally no political experience — to win the New Mexico governor's race. Twice.
But it's worth noting that he waited until after his re-election in 1998 to shock the state — and the nation — with his legalization views. It will be fascinating to see if Johnson can capture the hearts and minds of New Hampshire's famously open-minded and thoughtful voters. And even if he doesn't — hey, it will be a cool ride.
"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could do a really good job," Johnson said. "And on a personal note — man! This has got to be one of humankind's great experiences. Talk about an adventure."
Email: mcoleman@abqjournal.com
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