Governor Gary Johnson Recap

Former Governor Gary Johnson (R-NM) came to speak at Fordham tonight and this, my friends, is the promised recap.

First things first, the guy is going to run for president in 2012, but will under no circumstances make it beyond the primaries. It's unfortunate, really, because he does represent the goals of the average American in almost every way. He is a political everyman, both in his moderate/libertarian belief system and in his manner of speaking. He is charming in the small, college venue in which I saw him; his demeanor is one of almost pathetic desperation (he spoke at Fordham for free, unusual for high profile politicians). This desperation, however, is derived not from an internal desire to elevate himself, but a desire to connect with his audience and externalize his ideas. He's endearing, and I'm sure he collected an inspired fanbase at Fordham tonight, but in an era of political demagogues and eloquent one-liners, Mr. Johnson simply stands no chance.

He mainly spoke about the legalization of marijuana (he pretty much agrees with what I said), the reduction of government spending, and focusing legislation on those bills advantageous for the average person, not based on popular support. He gave an example of the latter from his time as Governor of New Mexico: a high school athlete died in a pole vaulting accident and within a month, he said, a bill was on his desk that required all high school students to wear helmets during the pole vault. He himself had pole vaulted in high school, and he wouldn't have wanted to wear a helmet, so he vetoed the bill.

It's this sort of common sense political discourse which dominates his thinking that is both his most powerful asset and biggest enemy. He disagrees with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; in response to a question in which a student asked how many months or years he would take to scale down the troops, he responded, "Years? I think you mean days." The crowd laughed, but he was completely serious. He makes leaps of faith that many people think, but no one says in such blunt a manner. Even for those who agree with him, it's almost unnerving to hear these thoughts outside one's own mind. The audience, by the end of his speech, was most definitely rooting for him, albeit in an empathetic, nearly condescending way.

I wish him luck; on paper, the guy has a valid chance. He's going to get crushed.

UPDATE: The entire event was apparently recorded and uploaded to YouTube; watch it here (sorry about the quality).