Elwar
11-27-2007, 11:47 AM
Ok, I've been ignoring the VP discussion, but I started thinking about 2012 and beyond and how important a VP decision is for Ron Paul.
When thinking about libertarian candidates that I had a lot of respect for I always thought Ron Paul was on the top, I always heard the buzz about people wanting him to run for LP president again...I was always opposed to it because he is the only libertarian in Congress and I felt that we need him there. I never considered him running for president as a Republican...going that route actually gives him a chance to win.
So I was racking my brain trying to come up with someone else who is even close to Ron Paul's core libertarian beliefs with a proven track record as someone who has a principled voting record. There are plenty of libertarians who would do well as president, there are a few local politicians that have voted consistently libertarian, nobody other than Ron Paul in Washington..
I couldn't think of any that even come close, but someone that does spring to mind is Gary Johnson ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_E._Johnson ). He was the governor of New Mexico, he was also well known for voting no and vetoing about 80% of the legislation that came across his desk. He was well known as being against the drug war and spoke at the Libertarian national convention the year that I was there.
If I had to, I'd peg him as a young Ron Paul. An avid biker, libertarian, pisses off Republicans and Democrats by voting "no" a lot.
He has experience as a governor, which would give the Paul campaign a boost when competing with two senators. He would also have the experience of someone who has to do a lot of vetoing with a Dem/Rep legislature.
He'd also be young enough to run after Ron Paul's terms as president.
Here's a good article in Reason on him:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/27909.html
When thinking about libertarian candidates that I had a lot of respect for I always thought Ron Paul was on the top, I always heard the buzz about people wanting him to run for LP president again...I was always opposed to it because he is the only libertarian in Congress and I felt that we need him there. I never considered him running for president as a Republican...going that route actually gives him a chance to win.
So I was racking my brain trying to come up with someone else who is even close to Ron Paul's core libertarian beliefs with a proven track record as someone who has a principled voting record. There are plenty of libertarians who would do well as president, there are a few local politicians that have voted consistently libertarian, nobody other than Ron Paul in Washington..
I couldn't think of any that even come close, but someone that does spring to mind is Gary Johnson ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_E._Johnson ). He was the governor of New Mexico, he was also well known for voting no and vetoing about 80% of the legislation that came across his desk. He was well known as being against the drug war and spoke at the Libertarian national convention the year that I was there.
If I had to, I'd peg him as a young Ron Paul. An avid biker, libertarian, pisses off Republicans and Democrats by voting "no" a lot.
He has experience as a governor, which would give the Paul campaign a boost when competing with two senators. He would also have the experience of someone who has to do a lot of vetoing with a Dem/Rep legislature.
He'd also be young enough to run after Ron Paul's terms as president.
Here's a good article in Reason on him:
http://www.reason.com/news/show/27909.html