Arrival of Gary Johnson
Despite claiming to be an "unwavering Republican", refusing the Libertarians' draft in the 2000 elections, and initially running for the Republican nomination, former Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson officially withdrew his chances for a Republican nomination and announced his full intention to seek that of the Libertarians. This was as a result of garnering little progress as a Republican candidate for the 2012 election. Nevertheless, he has encouraged his supporters to vote for Ron Paul in 2012 Republican presidential primaries. A socially progressive libertarian, Johnson is known for his opposition to United States involvement in the Afghanistan, Iraq and Libyan wars. On the flip side, as a fiscal conservative, Johnson supports "slashing government spending", include Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security entitlements. As governor, he cut taxes fourteen times and slashed the 10% annual growth in the New Mexican budget by using his gubernatorial veto on half of bills in his first six months. He advocates passing a law allowing for state bankruptcy and expressly ruling out a federal bailout of any states.
The only other candidates vying for the 2012 Libertarian nomination were Virginian Bill Still and Texan R. Lee Wrights. Still is a monetary reform activist, documentary film maker and author of several non-fiction books; he created, produced and narrated The Money Masters and The Secret of Oz, which focus on the United States monetary system. Meanwhile, Wrights is a lifelong Libertarian, having served as secretary and chair of the Libertarian Party of Forsyth County, N.C. and as vice chair of the Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC) for seven years. Wrights is currently a member of the Libertarian Party judicial committee, elected to that body by the 2010 national convention. Johnson won the nomination, and came third in the general.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Libertarian Party (United States)
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“National literature does not mean much these days; now is the age of world literature, and every one must contribute to hasten the arrival of that age.”
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—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
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