Gary Johnson in SC Debate

Here's my observations after watching the Republican candidate debate in Greenville, S.C.:

One of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson’s major tasks for the debate was distinguishing himself and his libertarian philosophy from Rep. Ron Paul, who is perhaps the major leader of the libertarian movement in the U.S.

But the debate format, in which Fox News reporters and commentators asked questions of the five contenders on-stage, Johnson found little opportunity to do that. In fact it was Paul, not Johnson who got the first question about drug legalization even though Johnson made it a major issue of his second term as governor here.

Both Johnson and Paul were the only candidates who spoke in favor of legalizing drugs (Paul said he’d legalize heroin as well.) And Johnson and Paul were the only candidates who said they never would use water boarding for interrogating terrorism suspects.

As Bill Richardson learned in the Democratic presidential debates in the 2008 cycle, Johnson found out Thursday that it’s sometimes hard for a New Mexico governor to even get noticed during the debate. At one point when a Fox News questioner directed a question to Pawlenty, Johnson interrupted, protesting, “It's like nine questions for these guys and none for me.”

Johnson received both boos and scattered applause from the South Carolina Republican audience when he talked about his belief that women should have the right to abort a pregnancy “up to the point of viability.”

Johnson was able to reiterated his initial opposition to the war in Iraq and his recent opposition to military action against Libya. He said that while he supported the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks, there's no good reason to be there nearly 10 years later.

One idea that he repeated several times during the debate was that the U.S. is “on the verge of financial collapse” unless the federal budget is balanced.

One oddball question that took Johnson by surprise was what kind of reality television show he would like to have. Johnson, who has climbed Mt. Everest, said he’d do a show in which he’d climb the highest mountain in each of the seven continents.

Beast Columnist: Paul Can't Win, Johnson Can

The general consensus among political types, both state and national, is that Ron Paul's announcement of an "exploration" committee this week probably makes former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson's long-shot presidential bid that much longer.

Daily Beast columnist John Avalon, however, argues that libertarians are making a mistake touting Paul while ignoring Johnson.

Given the deepening appeal of libertarianism—and Paul’s established status as an ideas icon but not a winner of broad popular elections—it’s a bit frustrating that the other avowed libertarian in the 2012 presidential race is still fighting to get noticed. After all, Gary Johnson is not some loud-mouthed vanity candidate—he is the former two-term governor of a pivotal swing state. But while his successor, Bill Richardson was taken seriously as a candidate in 2008 and the newly elected Susana Martinez is already fawned over by the conservative press, Johnson is comparatively ignored.


In Johnson, however libertarians might have their most accomplished modern advocate—a proven vote getter with demonstrated crossover appeal, a self-made millionaire and iron-man competitor who supports marijuana legalization (and let’s be honest, that libertarian plank has always been a source of the movement’s popularity on college campuses). More importantly, he has actually reined in government spending as an executive—leaving his successor a budget in the black.

Another national commentator, comedian Jay Leno, took notice of the former governor Tuesday night.

“Well folks, former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has announced he will run for president in 2012.," Leno said in his monologue. "Gary Johnston? His campaign slogan --  `Even I never heard of me.' "

A former staffer for Johnson, who alerted me to this pointed out that Johnson was unknown when he first ran for governor too.

Johnson Trailing in Ron Paul VP Poll

Over at RonPaul.com there's a poll to suggest running mates if Dr. Paul runs for president 2012. (Disclaimer: The site "is maintained by independent grassroots supporters of Ron Paul. Neither this website nor the articles, posts, videos or photos appearing on it are paid for, approved, endorsed or reviewed by Ron Paul.")

But New Mexico's Gary Johnson, at least at this writing Friday morning, is coming in at a modest 8th place -- behind such names as Sarah Palin, Jesse Ventura, Dennis Kucinich and Paul's son Rand. The current leader is Judge Andrew Napolitano, a Fox News personality.

Johnson though is ahead of Michelle Bachman, Pat Buchanan and Glenn Beck.

But Johnson isn't the only New Mexican showing up in the poll. Congressional candidate Adam Kokesh is on the list and he's ahead of Beck, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney among others.

Roundhouse Roundup: Here Comes Santy Claus

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
May 21, 2009

Bill Richardson always insists that being governor of New Mexico is "the best job in the world."

And I think there's one part of the job that Richardson enjoys the most.

Being Santa Claus.

That was evident this week when he slid down the proverbial chimney to the Santa Fe Public Schools and put $200,000 under the metaphorical Christmas tree to keep Alvord Elementary School open for the next two years. Before Richardson met with school board President Angelica Ruiz on Wednesday with the promise of the state funds, a majority of the board favored closing Alvord as part of a plan to cut $4.5 million from the school district's budget. Those favoring the closing argued that the small school is a drain on the school system.

As reported by my colleague John Sena, Richardson didn't speak at the special school board meeting Wednesday. But he did talk to one appreciative audience.

According to Richardson spokeswoman Alire Ray-Garcia, when the governor and his entourage were driving away from the public schools administration building after the meeting with Ruiz, he saw a group of kids walking toward the building. He assumed — correctly it turned out — that they were Alvord students headed toward the meeting.

He ordered his state police driver to stop his SUV, then rolled down his window.

"I think I just saved your school," the governor shouted out the window.

Ray-Garcia said the students were excited and cheered Richardson.

Ho, ho, ho! It's good to be the Santa.

Faces in the crowd: Last week's speech at Rio Rancho High School by President Barack Obama drew a large array of Democratic bigwigs — the governor and other state officers, legislators and mayors. They sat together in a roped-off VIP section to the right of the president's podium.

But there were a couple of well-known Democratic politicos at the speech who weren't in the VIP section.

One was Santa Fe developer Don Wiviott, who last year was the main primary-election opponent of freshman U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján. Wiviott, who spent more than $1 million of his own money on the congressional race, said after the speech that he doesn't intend to run for another office any time soon. Instead, Wiviott said, he's concentrating on making it easier for small businesses to get credit at small banks.

The other prominent Democrat I ran into outside the bounds of the VIP section was state Public Regulation Commissioner Jerome Block Jr. — who is under indictment for alleged election-related embezzlement charges. He's accused of lying about $2,500 in public campaign funds he initially reported paying to a band at a campaign rally — which never took place.

Asked about his case, Block said, "It'll have to play out in court," adding that he thinks it's a shame that "something so petty" is taking up so much time and energy.

But, he said, Obama's speech on credit-card reform was "great."

Investment task force: Gary King is one of 30 or more state attorneys general making up a national task force to investigate politically connected investment advisers who help decide where to invest public money from permanent and pension funds.

According to an article in Stateline.org — a Web site specializing in state government-related news — the task force was sparked by the New York investigation of state investments, which involves charges of political favoritism and abuse — and some of the same cast of characters involved in New Mexico investments.

"New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, following a recent teleconference call with 100 representatives of 35 state attorneys general's offices, said he would form the task force 'so states can share vital information to prosecute wrongdoing and facilitate nationwide reform.' "

The article, written by Stephen C. Fehr, goes on to say, "The task force comes as New York, California, Connecticut and New Mexico officials are investigating possible pension fund abuse and political favoritism. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission also is examining pension transactions in New York, California and New Mexico."

King spokesman Phil Sisneros said Wednesday that his boss is one of those AGs, but the office doesn't know yet what the level of participation will be. "The question is how much this is affecting New Mexico," he said.

Call the doctor: Adam Kokesh, the former Marine and anti-war activist who is considering challenging U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján next year, got a boost last week from one of his heroes — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential contender.

"Sending Adam Kokesh to Congress would be a tremendous victory for the Freedom Movement and if we come together and stand behind him, he has a real chance to win," Paul said in a statement released by Kokesh's campaign. "We have a chance to help a real patriot and lover of liberty join me in Washington."

Kokesh said in a recent interview that he's not sure whether he'll run as an independent or in a party primary.