Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson seems pretty excited at being the wild card this election season. Johnson is the Libertarian candidate for president this year, and he sat down with the Los Angeles Times to discuss this year’s election. He also addressed the prospect of participating in the debates and how he’d enjoy taking some votes from Hillary Clinton.
As the dust settles on the Bernie or Bust train, and people try to figure out what exactly Jill Stein is saying, more attention has turned to Johnson possibly siphoning votes from the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees this November. The man in question certainly hopes that this election season’s ambivalence to establishment candidates may help more people Feel the Johnson:
“I don’t think it gets more establishment than Hillary Clinton. If I had one word to describe Hillary it would be ‘beholden.’ Nothing’s gonna really change, government’s gonna have the answer to everything … I think Hillary is going to be more hawkish perhaps than Obama. Perhaps more hawkish than Trump.”
When asked about Donald Trump, Johnson likened him to a “windshield wiper” that does one thing and then backtracks, as he has shown on the campaign trail. But the conversation grows more interesting when Johnson considers playing spoiler for the 2016 election. In the past, we have seen a few third-party candidates gain momentum in the presidential election, and Johnson feels he is verging into this territory. Johnson feels he can take some votes away from Clinton because of some of the similar social issues the Democratic and Libertarian parties share.
“I take more votes away from Hillary, which I think is interesting. Not by much, but by a squeak … I think that’s the social side of this. Choice. A woman’s right to choose. Marriage equality. Let’s stop dropping bombs. This is also appealing to Bernie voters — crony capitalism, it is alive and well.”
In an already tense and tight race, it’ll be interesting to see if Johnson can get himself on the ballot and be this election’s version of Ralph Nader.
(Via The Los Angeles Times)