Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, running as the Libertarian Party candidate, has qualified to be on the Nov. 6 ballot in 48 states.
He also competed in the Republican presidential primary, entering the race in April 2011 and bowing out in late December after getting no traction in the early-voting states.
Mr. Johnson’s views are classically libertarian: a noninterventionist in foreign affairs, a fiscal conservative, and a believer that government should refrain from dictating to people about their personal behavior.
Johnson has said he would aim to cut the federal budget by some 43 percent in his first year in office. That includes shrinking the size of the military. He has also compared America’s current financial situation with Russia’s economic crisis in 1998, saying it can be resolved only by a balanced budget. He pledges to submit a balanced budget to Congress during his first year as president and to veto any expenditures that are not matched by revenues.
On social issues, he supports legalizing prostitution and gay marriage, and he favors a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who want to work. He would legalize online gambling.
Many analysts do not expect Johnson’s candidacy to be much of a factor in the presidential election, though he might “steal a couple of votes from [Mitt] Romney,” says political scientist Matthew Hale, an associate professor at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
“Other than proving that America is still the land where any young boy or girl can grow up to run for president,” Johnson has “little relevance” in this election, he says.
The Washingon Post’s The Fix blog gives the Johnson factor a bit more credence. “If the race between Obama and Romney is very close in some key swing states that have independent and libertarian streaks, Johnson’s presence on the ballot could affect the Obama-Romney matchup,” writes The Fix’s Chris Cillizza. “In particular, Colorado, New Hampshire and Nevada are the battlegrounds where Johnson could prove a nuisance to his major party competition.”
Still, the GOP’s Mr. Romney has taken care to protect his right flank. “Romney picked a far right-wing darling for a running mate and then walked the far right wing walk all the way up to the first debate,” says Mr. Hale.
Romney has now pivoted to the center, but it is too late in the game for a third-party candidate with strong conservative credentials, such as Johnson, to catch fire, Hale adds.
Such a possibility is made even more difficult by today’s campaign-finance rules. When Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 with the Reform Party, he could essentially self-finance his campaign and still compete. But that’s harder to do now, because a host of other billionaires are out there pouring money into efforts to elect the mainstream candidates – courtesy of the US Supreme Court ruling in the 2010 Citizens United case, says Hale.
– Gloria Goodale, staff writer
