The most interesting Republican you've never heard of

I had no idea this species of rethug even existed.


The most interesting Republican you've never heard of
This ex-governor supports abortion rights, gay marriage and legalized pot. And he's probably running for president
By Niall Stanage


Gary Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico and a likely candidate for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, is talking about hookers.

"It's never been a consideration that I would enlist the services of a prostitute, myself personally," he says. "But if I were to do that, where would I want to enlist that service? Well, it would probably be in Nevada, where it's legal, because it would be safe."

When's the last time Mitt Romney engaged in a hypothetical like that? But Johnson doesn't even blink. It's not like this is the only topic on which he risks offending the GOP's base. He also favors legalizing pot, supports abortion rights, and opposes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Oh, and he doesn't go to church. "I don't think you'll ever hear me invoking God in anything I do," he tells me.

It is an incongruous foundation from which to seek the mantle of a party whose last president, George W. Bush, famously claimed that his favorite philosopher is Jesus Christ.

more...

http://www.salon.com/news/2012_elections/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/05/05/gary_johnson_most_interesting_republican

He was better than the usual run of governors this state has had because he didn't manage to fuck anything up beyond repair.

He demonstrated his courage by speaking out--while in office--on ending the ruinous drug war.

He didn't do anything about that, of course, and it was his successor who actually got medical pot up and running, although with a lot of silly restrictions meaning only a handful of people will qualify.

He's more of a libertarian than a Republican, but given his choice, he'll sock it to the poor before he'll ever raise taxes on a rich man.

He's an "old school Libertarian"...not the Paulbot variety. Yep, he favors legalizing pot (why Mahrer loves him). He is "pro-choice" only in the sense he doesn't think the government should pry into one's bedroom or uterus, but by no means because of the concept of a woman's right to choose but rather that the government is all evil and must be held in check. This also means he was in favor of massive deregulation and now to let the too big to fails fall apart and crash the economy...either feast or famine and how dare the government interfere in any way. While Grover Norquist wants to shrink government down the bathtub, Johnson wants to make it disappear altogether.