The CNN Republican Debate : What, Gary Johnson is Chopped Liver?
66When I watched Gary Johnson during and after the Republican debate hosted by Fox News, I truly could not stand the guy. He looked...twitchy.
Then along comes the CNN debate, and Johnson isn't even invited to participate? As hundreds of standup comedians might say, what's up with that? I wasn't ready to love the fellow unconditionally just because of this door being slammed in his face, but I was automatically suspicious.
I started digging.
The results? It turns out Gary Johnson, the fromer two-term Governor of New Mexico, is a lot more impressive away from the media who detest him. They must detest or at least fear him greatly. Not one major outlet has brought up the simple question: How far did CNN have its head (presuming it has a head) where the sun don't shine in order to treat him like not only chopped liver, but like decomposing chopped liver? Nope. Not even Fox News seems to give diddly-squat about his exclusion from the debate.
Well, guess what? In 2011, the Internet is alive and well. Gary, surprisingly enough, is also alive and well. This is a man who broke his leg and then climbed Mt. Everest. Who actually shrank the state government during his time in office as New Mexico's chief executive. He's not the least bit stupid, he's walked the walk, and he's--quite frankly--a lot tougher than he looks.
But he could use a little help from the grassroots right now. Johnson has posted a video on YouTube in which he provides answers to every question asked at the CNN debate. If the molehill (CNN being no mountain these days)...if the molehill won't invite Gary Johnson to the debate, Gary Johnson will dig up the molehill and haul it to his home studio. We the People need to see this video!
Why? For one thing, the producer of the video spliced in a canned voice so that it sounds like every question is asked directly to "Gary Johnson"--but it was done so poorly that when you hear "Gary Johnson", it's so out of tune with the rest of the recording that you'd swear it had been done by Saturday Night Live.
For me, that's a plus. The vid is 40 minutes long; a second or two of comedy relief here and there is refreshing.
Most importantly, though, Johnson's answers--admittedly provided under much more relaxed conditions than a public debate forum--are really, really good!
When I snagged this video from YouTube, it had received just 305 views. With luck and a bit of persistence, perhaps we can get a lot more views and also get the recording embedded on a lot more websites. How many more views? Oh, how about 305 thousand...for starters.
Why? Because the Primary Election in 2012 may well end up being the most important selection of a nominee for President of the United States in the history of our nation. We need the best, and the only way to be sure of getting the best is to gather as much information as possible about every candidate who's filed the necessary papers and thrown his or her hat in the ring.
Are there glitches in the YouTube video? Oh, you betcha! The question about ethanol subsidies is followed by a repetition of Gary's response on eminent domain, for example.
So?
Does Gary Johnson have any real chance at the nomination? I don't pretend to know. I do know that the idea of letting the media weed out the "obvious losers" before America gets to take a serious looksee is something we can no longer countenance.
After all, the country voted for a flash-in-the-pan rock star in 2008...and look where that got us. It might just be time to begin judging candidates on their qualifications for a change we can believe in.
Remember in November 2012.
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I'll take a look before the days over. I may count as only one view, but it's one more toward 305,000 yes?
Ghost - I missed the debate because I had a political committee meeting that night but I understand I didn't miss much as the moderation was atrocious. I don't watch CNN and probably won't start anytime soon.
The debates should include all contenders so the voting public begins to understand the issues and the people running and their stances.
Media bias needs to go, as does political correctness. This is rubber meet the road time for our Republic. The hard questions need to now be asked. The gloves need to come off, especially once the one-on-one Presidential debates begin. Obama now has a record that can measured, is on record (video) all over the internet which clearly point out what he says so it can be compared to what we see him doing. They aren't in sync.
Gary Johnson needs to be allowed to join the fray just like anyone else who is contending. He's a conservative and that seems to irritate the national media.
Great write up.
The Frog
Great hub. I don't want the LSM deciding who the candidates will be, but let's face it they are going to try. What a disgrace. Up and awesome Ghost.
Thanks, Ghost, for the update on Gary Johnson. He reminds me somewhat of Will Rogers, the homespun humorist of the 30s, but without the folksy humor. If he could add that to his repertoire, he might have a chance.
Yes, Mo, you will definitely count as one very important view.
Frog, you called it. Seems to me the media bias against him may be due to their having noticed he actually SHRUNK the New Mexico state government while he was in office. Likely that spooks the bejeebers out of them.
He's also, like Sarah Palin, a lifetime athlete. Not just any athlete, either, but an Ironman Triathlete, no less.
BPop: Yep, they're going to try. And we're going to spike their freaking guns.
drbj: I suspect Gary probably has the humor--but maybe not the ability to let it be seen when the jackals are working so hard to try hamstringing him.
As to the "might have a chance" part, though, I'm not counting him (or any other real fighter) out just yet.
Given the challenges we face, I think Americans need exposure to all primary challengers. It is especially important that we focus on record and platform, and focus away from the beauty contest (i.e., who has the best deportment or speech skills).
For far too long, voter turnout has been week, and only a small percentage of voters are truly activist in terms of contributing money and volunteering time to their favorite candidates. As voters, we need to become much more familiar with each candidate's platform, record, and skill set, and allow this knowledge to drive voting decisions. I know it's hard, because sometimes the best candidate (based on the prior criteria) has poor debating skills, but superior executive skills, ideology, and policy knowledge.
We were badly burned in 2008 because Obama and Biden put on a picture perfect campaign, while McCain appeard scared of losing (which he was, but letting it show ruined him), and Palin spent more time bragging about how she knew more than her campaign team than discussing the issues voters actually care about. While I can't opine on whether a McCain/Palin win would have resulted in a good result for the country, I can say with no fear of error that it would have been infinitely superior to what we ended up with.
Stu: I agree with everything you've said except for our usual disagreement on Palin's deportment during the campaign. (You'll recall we agreed to disagree, that we apparently saw entirely different Palin campaigns in '08.)
But definitely, the beauty contest aspect is a problem.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. This country needs help and only being able to see all of the candidates and making the right decision will give it this help.I will view the video later. Have to run off for a while soon.
Thanks, Becky. Johnson's video more than 1% of the way there (to my goal of 305,000 views, that is)--YouTube shows it at 3,851 views as we speak. Um, as we type, anyway.
C'mon Ghost, all that winking and pointing, bragging about arguing with her campaign team, etc. She was acting more like a spoiled beauty queen than a VP candidate. I'm not saying I don't like her policies, but she definitely has some work to do learning how to behave during a campaign. Campaigns are not speeches to the faithful. You are trying win a deportment contest. Go to Youtube, and look at some of the campaign clips for a review. Palin's got alot of potential, but she honestly did blow the campaign.
I have been a Johnson fan since I learned about him 3 or 4 years ago. Not sure how a 2 term gov. got left out of the debate when he is polling the same as Santorum and Pawlenty. I will probably be voting for Paul, but he is my #2.
Stu: Nope. She didn't. Let's drop it, Stu--we're never going to see this one through the same lens.
tboyle: I wouldn't expect a Paul supporter to do otherwise. I JUST became a Johnson fan and have now moved him onto my short list of Preferred Presidents, to wit (in this order):
1. Palin
2. Bachmann
3. Johnson
4. Cain
Do you think Palin will run?
Don't have a clue. She's said repeatedly that SHE doesn't know yet.
Fortunately for our side, and boo-hoo for the libs, Sarah's a big problem for them whether she does or whether she doesn't. If she does, it's obvious. But if she doesn't, she still helps by drawing huge amounts of fire away from OTHER conservative candidates.
At this point, Michelle Bachmann has sort slipped in almost under the radar, in part because the screamers didn't want to miss anything in Sarah Palin's emails. Gotta love that!
Oviously I am a Paul supporter and want him to win, but I think Bachmann is going to end up being the one to beat. Romney will likely fall apart and I think Bachmann will get most of his former supporters, Romney and Paul will grab 2nd and 3rd in most primaries, Cain probably fourth and the rest in the low single digits (I hope Johnson does better than that though).
tfboyle: I admire anyone brave enough to predict how things are going to go between now and the end of the Primary campaigns. For myself, I wouldn't presume to guess how it's going to fall out.
One thing is for sure: It's going to be interesting.
Just taking a guess. Things can take a drastic turn at any moment, I make my prediction on the assumption that the trends stay as they are. Not very brave of me though considering their are no repercussions.
Brave enough--brave than me, anyway! LOL!
I'm betting on Bachmann winning too. The rest of the (announced) GOP competition either is too equivocal or weak ideologically, or are playing their ideology close to the vest to appeal to centrists in the general election but will cost themselves votes in the primary. The only other vocal ideological purist on the "panel" so far is Paul, but I don't think his libertarian bent will play well with alot of right wingers, even though his specific policies are well liked by them. My guess is that Bachmann will win the primary, and she will pick Herman Cain for VP. Cain makes up for Bachmann's lack of proven number crunching skills on the budget, and will be crucial in her ticket appealing to centrists (since Cain is at least for now playing ideology very lightly). Pawlenty is the best budget cutting expert, but Bachmann sees him as having too little fire in the belly ideologically. Paul certainly has the budget skills, but probably won't want to play second fiddle.
Of course, the equation could change if more people join the fray, such as Palin or Ryan.
It's interesting to speculate about what a Bachmann/Cain ticket might mean in the general election. Current polls have Obama's approval rating around 50% (i.e., he's doing his well or somewhat well). If this ratio holds, the general election could be very close. Obama will hold on to his core liberal voting base, about 25% of voters. So the 40% who are centrist will make the decision. Since about 35% of the voting base is right wing, the GOP will need another 15%+ from the centrists, or around 40% of them to win (assuming the spread between popular and electoral votes is not wide). If Cain keeps his ideology close to the vest, and just focuses on the economy (without being too vocal on his budget cutting fervor), he could be just what Bachmann needs to soften centrist fear of her TPM ideology.
I have a feeling no matter who wins the general election, it may be a real squeaker. The heat Obama takes from the GOP winner in regard to the economy will be largely offset by his probable funding advantage (he'll put on more ads than the GOP winner).
Stu
This is one election season I'm actually looking forward to experiencing, both the primary and general election campaigns. It may sound silly, but I'm figuring to have FUN in 2012.
Uh-oh. (*Gasp!*) I'm turning into John MCain! That's HIS line!
No. No. No, I'm still okay. It's all right. No sudden urge to run for office or anything like that. It'll pass....!
I feel the same way. It will be very exciting, as long as someone good wins the GOP primary.
Yep. And I've got faith it wil be someone good who wins it.
Me too!!
Poor Mr. Johnson. I still feel for him during the first debate when they threw the reality show question at him.
I'm going to refrain from saying anything nasty about Mrs. Palin because I truly respect her as a woman and a Mom. But I will say there are hopefuls in the running now who act with a more attractive level of emotional self-restraint when it comes to dealing with the media than Mrs. Palin. However, if she ended up as the GOP candidate, yes, she'd have my vote.
Hi Beth,
I don't think Johnson has much of a chance. He's not well known outside of NM, and the bulk of GOP primary voters will be looking for a genuine conservative. Johnson's hardly a liberal, but he's not "true blue" TPM material. Were he to win the GOP nomination, he might have a decent shot in the general election, because he will appeal to centrists, and unlike TPM pol's, he'll get RNC support. But the reality is that registered GOP's aren't going to nominate him.
I like Palin too. She's really a very bright and accomplished person. But she's very thin skinned, and handles the press poorly. She takes every question like a character attack, gets all emotional, and flubs the answer. She needs alot of training in this area.
Stu
bethperry: I understand your position on Sarah--though personally, I actually appreciate the way she flames 'em back every time they throw another smear her way. A lot of those media folks are the type that can dish it out but can't take it.
She did show restraint the last time Bill Maher called her a cu*t on the air, though. When asked about it, Sarah just shrugged and said, "I don't have time for a mosquito like Maher." LOVED that!
Stu: Heck, with Sarah, nearly every question from the media (excluding Fox News) IS a character attack! LOL!
Ghost,
You may be right, but it's not relevant. Until she learns how to handle this, the press will use this weakness against her.
Stu
They'll certainly try. Whether the effort will be successful remains to be seen.
It'll be tough. Palin has sort of an "infallibility complex" (hyperoptimism), and does not take criticism well (she views it as sabotage). The problem won't get solved unless she can admit to herself that she needs training in this area.
Could be that's why I like her. I don't take criticism well, either, at least according to Pam.
Ghost32 Hub Author 11 months ago
Sarah Palin's my gal if she runs, with Michelle Bachmann a close enough second. But there's a whole lot more to Johnson than I'd realized prior to researching this Hub.