I think many have been receptive to the idea that another candidate couldn’t possibly make things worse. Johnson told the gathering, “I’m sorry” for his gaffe on Aleppo. But for some, Johnson’s demeanor is also a selling point. He knows it’s important that America is at the forefront of what could be the science that eradicates all disease in this century.
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Admittedly, being “unscripted” has also hurt Johnson.
During an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee on Thursday flubbed a question on the Syrian civil war, asking, “What is Aleppo?”.
The biggest issue facing Johnson right now is he’s not being allowed in the presidential debates. “I would love to see a Libertarian up there talking about smaller government, less government”.
In addition to the mainstream political press, Johnson was featured, negatively, in a piece by The New Yorker’s editor, David Remnick. And in Congress, Johnson could be the compromise vote-the socially liberal, fiscally conservative former governor. They need to run a flawless campaign, and grab at least 15 percent support to grace the debate stages come the fall. If the Commission on Presidential Debates evaluated candidate credentials and not poll standings, Johnson and Weld would have been the first to qualify.
Johnson and Weld, unlike the Green Party, will have their names on ballots in all 50 states. Or perhaps his support might plummet and Johnson would no longer be a factor.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the paper’s editorial board mentioned, “Neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump comes even close to the fundamental moral and professional ethics we want any American president to acquire”. To not be allowed in them is to simply not be able to win the election.
Johnson, who has sort of goofy look about him all the time anyway, appeared even goofier, and clearly had no clue what Barnicle was referring to.
Now, don’t get me wrong. “You did your job as a citizen to vote for a candidate of your choice”.
Maybe you’ve heard about this exchange.
Not so for a person running as a member of a third party. He not only technically has a path to the presidency, but in polls, he’s already showing about 13 million votes for him. Barnicle’s obvious intent was to try and get a Dan Quayle or George W. Bush type howler or malapropism out of Johnson. The first presidential debate is on September 26. That’s a unsafe flaw for anyone who thinks he can be president in a risky world.
It seems like just yesterday, as a nation, we were wondering about driverless cars. Or we laughed about drones delivering pizzas, and now it’s happening.
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I had the luck of spending a few days alone with Johnson at his home in New Mexico a few months ago. He claims he wants to help people but who has he helped in his business dealings? And he favors many bad things: no immediate action to counter climate change, health care cuts to the most vulnerable, repealing Wall Street regulations. And most of those were just on Wednesday. So let the two freaks from the major parties have their “debate”. Consider voting for someone who’s interested in really moving science and technology forward.
