Gary Johnson & Wayne Root C0-Host Online Town Hall
January 27, 2012, Santa Fe, NM – Former New Mexico Governor and current presidential candidate Gary Johnson will be joined Monday, January 30, by nationally-known Libertarian leader and commentator Wayne Allyn Root for a live on-line Town Hall. Participants who go to www.garyjohnson2012.com will be able to ask questions of Governor Johnson and Mr. Root on any issue they wish.
Root is the author of 7 books, a regular guest on Fox News, and a successful businessman. In 2008, he was the Libertarian Party’s candidate for Vice-President, and has held numerous national leadership positions in the Libertarian Party.
Those wishing to watch or participate in Monday evening’s live Town Hall can do so by going to www.garyjohnson2012.com. It will begin at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.
@ 58
Zapper, interesting comments.
Who knows where the LP journey will lead us or me.
GUARANTEE you it is not with the GOP. And most likely NOT the DEMS.
I find it interesting that I feel that I have been “enlighted” by joining the LP. The conservative “roughness” I had developed over 20 years has been polished down in just 5 years.
Thank you.
Johnson/Harris ’12!
72 bh, thanks, that was my guess about where GJ’s coming from on the FAIR Tax. That’s the RP position as well, although RP doesn’t advocate it.
I wouldn’t think that such a forum would be a place for GJ to change his messaging. As a teaching tool, I agree that a capitation by state tax has many advantages. Using the word “capitation” isn’t one of them. Either people won’t know what it means or associate it with a head tax.
Proportional tax, perhaps? (What happens with territories, btw?)
I do wonder which states are the biggest taxpayers and which are the biggest tax consumers?
Miron, huh? Nice.
I thought Johnson handled the questions deftly. He said he was committed to his new political home in the LP now that he is “out of the closet”. He said he’s not ideologically wedded to taxing sales; he just thinks that the Fair Tax would be not as bad as the current income tax. I pitched the idea of a capitation tax apportioned to the states by population, and Root did a good job of explaining the advantages of it, but Johnson didn’t seem to engage the idea directly.
He said his economics adviser is Jeffrey Miron, the Harvard economist, Cato Institute scholar, and author of Libertarianism From A to Z.
I listened to this broadcast and came away impressed with both Johnson and Root. Johnson’s support of the so-called Fair Tax didn’t earn him any points but his discussion of other new tax fixes made it seem less of a big deal than in the past.
Johnson advocated for marijuana legalization with Root seconding the angle that there is no benefit to advocating in favor of legalizing cocaine when marijuana hasn’t been legalized yet.
All said the whole broadcast helped remind me that Gary Johnson did plenty to shrink government and limit taxation while Governor of New Mexico.
I’ll be wondering when the other candidates will put on a similar event because a voter sure ain’t going to vote for you if he hasn’t had the opportunity to see him (or her) talking on your TV (or computer monitor).
I was able to get through on my cell phone thanks to Lavra’s link, but I could only hear Gary–not his callers or Root (and you all know I was crying about that!) I was disappointed to hear Gary talk about his Fair Tax. Frankly, I kind of think the presentation was a bit unprofessional. I was underwhelmed.
@68,
Root talked some — maybe even more than you would have liked — but mainly it was Johnson answering questions.
By national convention time, no delegate with Internet access will have an excuse for not knowing where Johnson stands on the issues. He’s made himself very accessible.
I might’ve tuned into this, except that I saw Wayne Root would be involved.
I didn’t need to hear him spew again about all his media appearances, how he’s a “son of a butcher”, or his right wing GOP-style Obama bashing.
@Jill, if the main site (www.garyjohnson2012.com) isn’t working for you, try the direct yowie link: http://www.yowie.com/videochat/5o3-gary-johnson-wayne-a-root
I can’t get into the Town Hall. Does anyone have a suggestion?
Anyone but root 2012
Do we want leaders from Ohio and Indiana running the national party? Aren’t they too much of a moderate-libertarian? No pure enough?
@61 So why would Knedler run against Rutherford if that’s the case?
@60 Don’t have that in front of me but I seem to recall that back in the early 90s and earlier the party was no better off than now, and there are other measures besides income that I seem to remember indicating the same thing. If you have the graphs handy put up a link.
Rutherford and Knedler may have similiar traits. Look at the rebuild of Indiana LP and the Ohio LP. Both organizations are focused on electing people. Time will tell. Not sure they can rebuild the national party with their leadership. Agree that both might retire and run screaming into the night . It is good that they push mentoring and the building of future leadership.
@59 You could look at inflation-adjusted LNC income; that might give some evidence on your question on the last line. You could also look at membership numbers. The New Path proposal for the party actually has graphs of these, though they end in 2010.
The worst periods have included looters – such as Project Archimedes which involved churning mailing lists to create the appearance of party growth by enrolling temporary direct mail donors as phoney members. This allowed certain cronies to make hundreds of thousands of dollars and left the party weaker and smaller in the end. This was the predicted outcome of the project made by opponents at the DC convention where it was much ballyhooed – but the members were bedazzled by the hype, BS, and expensive suits of the promoters.
I don’t think you’re right. Party meetings attendance, conventions attendance, numbers of candidates, etc also went up.
All those signs of life went down later, true.
But keep in mind:
1) Archimedes was discontinued
2) A lot of venom and negativity was thrown at the people associated with it, and by 2002 they were voted out
3) Internet bubble burst
4) Disappointing vote totals for Browne 2000, possibly due in part to how close the Bush/Gore race ended up and/or Nader and Buchanan being in the race
5) 9/11 and foreign policy split afterwards
6) Database problems, lack of effort to recruit and retain members in the mid-2000s
7) Zero dues hiccup
8 ) Other problems in the intervening decade
All in all, what is the evidence that we are worse off than before Archimedes and the people that implemented it came in?
48 Sensible LP.
I believe that the best LP leaders are more valuable in helping their various state parties grow and become effective.
If any particular state leader – Knedler and Rutherford, for example – has an urge to do more, he or she could volunteer a little time to help a weaker neighboring state LP. More specifically, to help to find and mentor a leader to do the same thing in that state, not to run the state LP from the outside.
To be fair, Phillies has been doing some that in New England. Phillies has become a bit too political, however, within the LP and a less divisive leader would be better for a state party.
The LNC has been wasting the time of valuable activists for at least 30 years with petty infighting. Now and then, additional good activists are sucked into the fray, and lost forever. Eventually many are chewed up and retire or give up or run screaming into the darkness or disappear and hide.
The worst periods have included looters – such as Project Archimedes which involved churning mailing lists to create the appearance of party growth by enrolling temporary direct mail donors as phoney members. This allowed certain cronies to make hundreds of thousands of dollars and left the party weaker and smaller in the end. This was the predicted outcome of the project made by opponents at the DC convention where it was much ballyhooed – but the members were bedazzled by the hype, BS, and expensive suits of the promoters.
Thank you for the upcoming recap.
It would also help to see who made the motion to start with. Interesting to see what passions each LNC candidate has and how much they participate.
51 sc: Exactly. Just the opposite of Bob Barr’s 2008 running mate. I’m sorry to see Johnson giving him another soapbox.
me: Actually, my feedback is that WAR comes across as undisciplined in different ways than RP or GJ. Whereas they meander, WAR overstates. JV actually has a more stylistically disciplined approach to his TV appearances, where he can storytell and make points in a way that tracks. (Substantively, JV is highly prone to overstatement, however, given his penchant for espousing conspiracies.) He also has an authentic, albeit larger than life, personality. However, if I were to point to people who articulate the L message effectively, persuasively and authentically, I’d say Stossel and Napolitano are people to watch and emulate.
Mark Hinkle is a great chair, and I will support him again this year.
Nicholas Sarwark wrote (@52):
I’ll be publishing roll call votes again for the upcoming convention.
I’m not sure yet whether I’ll be mailing out copies or just distributing them at the convention. That will depend on whether I can find a pro-building LNC slate by the end of March.
Here’s the last one for comparison:
http://www.chuckmoulton.org/libertarian/2010/voting/
@48, 50: Chuck Moulton typically publishes all roll-call votes for the convention delegates. If he’s going to do it again, I’ll kick in a few dollars to help with printing costs.
rc @31 writes “My sense is they (Ron Paul and Gary Johnson) are both attractive candidates because they don’t come across as slick, but authentic and sincere, warts and all.”
Exactly. Just the opposite of Bob Barr’s 2008 running mate. I’m sorry to see Johnson giving him another soapbox.
@48 Anticipate a voting report, done by someone better at it than me.
I have a half-decade record of leadership in Massachusetts. It comes from helping other people to do their thing, not being chair most of the time.
Ditto, you can ask about who had good campaign organization in 2008 and 2010, whether it won or not.
Would also like to see the LNC candidates track record at leadership.
@ 36. Interesting comments. So the potential best candidate shouldn’t run for national chair? What would Hancock be like at national chair? Phillies? Need a steady hand on the wheel of the national party and LNC.
Would be interesting to see a recap of how each person on LNC has voted on key issues during this term.
So, have you asked Ventura about that yet?
Get this ticket done!
It’ll unite the right & left of the Libertarian Party and both have executive governorship experience.
But of course if they go the Wayne Root route, I will not vote for that ticket just like last election.
The least populous is Loving County, Texas, with 82 residents as of 2010.
Lots of luck with getting a stand alone affiliate functioning there.
Yeah, especially since the entire place is in one ranch!
Yeah, I’m pretty sure he would pretty involved with what goes on at the office.
Moving the office far from DC is definitely one of his agenda items.
He’s managing it now, and will not be running for Chair or Treasurer unless things change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_counties
There are currently 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the United States.
The least populous is Loving County, Texas, with 82 residents as of 2010.
Lots of luck with getting a stand alone affiliate functioning there.
I don’t see it happening. My guess is that the percentage of delegates that will be willing to vote for him has not changed significantly, regardless of whether you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
I guess since everyone is more focused on the presidential race this year it won’t be as much of a big deal this time, since none of the chair candidates are even announced yet as far as I know.
Happy birthday to MH if he’s reading.
I’m taking a long break from facebook.
38 gp: ..since my friends and I separated Carla Howell and her clique from control of the state party…
me: I’m wondering if it now should be SCMHH….
36 z: [GP as Chair] would reduce the chances of any frivolous charges being filed with the FEC…
me: LOL! Best one this week! It’s like the shopkeeper who gets tired of paying the Mob “protection money,” so he just hands over the keys to the place! 😉
In Massachusetts, I am Treasurer, not state chair. We raised (Federal funds) almost 50% more in 2011 than we did in 2010. Almost all of my fundraising letters have considerably more than paid for themselves.
For the last years, since my friends and I separated Carla Howell and her clique from control of the state party, fundraising (this includes state as well as FEC) fundraising has been
2011 — 12,740
2010 — 8,622
2009 — 6,736
2008 — 5,645
2007 — 3,745
We attained control in late 2006.
Due to minor issues like the newsletter not going out on any regular basis, in late 2006 we had large numbers of people who were no longer attached to the state party, but who were carried on our membership rolls. We got that sorted out by encouraging people to renew their memberships. Since then, our membership has increased by just short of 75%.
36 z: A vice Presidential candidate with money to make a difference would need to put in multiples of the money brought by David Koch and not a fraction of the money. Mr. Koch put in enough money to buy a series of 5 minute nationwide Television ads.
me: Right. In 1980. Whether the media buys in 1980 were optimized, I can’t say. I can say that MUCH has changed since 1980. Blitzing the Web with youtubes (disintermediating the networks) coupled with free media could achieve Clark+ results, esp with a far more credible candidate.
Couple that with the AE wildcard, and it could be a very interesting cycle indeed.
Wayne Root is just starting to get a really good gig going with his various talking head endeavors. All the various speculation about him is good for his media career. All the controversy he engenders makes him a better draw on air, so my guess is he won’t be runnning for anything, but he won’t be saying “never” either. It’s not likely that he has any significant spare cash lying about, so don’t look for him as “the VP with the funding” a la Koch.
Speaking of which…
18 RC A vice Presidential candidate with money to make a difference would need to put in multiples of the money brought by David Koch and not a fraction of the money. Mr. Koch put in enough money to buy a series of 5 minute nationwide Television ads. The LP needs at least that amount of exposure again in 2012, so I’d estimate $20 or $30 million as a minimum to have any chance of being noticed.
Kevin Knedler should not run for National Chair, although he could be the best available. Strong state party affiliates like the one he’s building in Ohio are much more important than wasting his talents on the Libertarian National Committee. The LNC is a black hole for the valuable time and efforts of our best activists. Kevin, please stay on as chair of the Ohio LP for a while longer. Build your state LP.
In the same vein, I would hope that Redpath would return to managing Ballot Access for the LNC but forget about a larger role on LNC and instead run for Virginia LP chair. He could do a bang up job, taking some cues from Knedler and other successful state parties of old that had great affiliates for a while under great leaders, that failed when the leadership moved on.
Likewise, Rutherford should focus on building the Indiana LP. We need great state party leadership to build strong affiliates. These leaders should focus their efforts on building strong affiliates in every county in their respective states – and that means a stand alone affiliate in each and every county, no combined groups. Those combined groups are dead ends. The US has approximately 3022 counties – and when we have a stand alone affiliate functioning in each and evey one of them we will elect a POTUS and take the Congress.
Perhaps we should let George Phillies have a turn as LNC chair. He would likely get bogged down in the morass of politics, like the others, muddle through and not blow the place up. It would reduce the chances of any frivolous charges being filed with the FEC during his tenure and as long as he stayed out of managing the national office – and didn’t make the mistake of trying to move it out of DC, which nearly destroyed the LP the last time that was tried – there probably wouldn’t be any downside. On the Upside, we could then look for some decent leadership to jumpstart the Massachusetts LP and get it moving again up to its potential.
FYI, I see on Facebook that today is Mark Hinkle’s birthday.
Well, I hope the campaigning for chair starts soon, and we’ll keep everyone posted here on IPR!
Likely candidates:
Hinkle again, Rutherford, Phillies again, Hancock again, and now Knedler says he might run, although I would have expected him to support Rutherford.
I’m anxious to hear what Gary has to say. My impression is favorable so far, but I’ll be listening to him and reading about him in the next few months, so that I can make the best choice possible in May.
Does anyone know who else might be running for chair of the LP? The subject has come up a couple times. If we’re voting on it this year (which I think we will be), we should be discussing that, as well.
30 bh, hmm, in what sense was Clark a better candidate than GJ is, then? It’s true that Clark ran for guv and prez as L, and he was reasonably well packaged. Clark had a robot-like delivery when I saw him debate Barry Commoner. But, mostly, he had no resume except…corporate atty. On paper, GJ is much stronger.
It’s interesting how both GJ and RP are both folksy, a bit rambling, sometimes disjointed on the stump. My sense is they are both attractive candidates because they don’t come across as slick, but authentic and sincere, warts and all.
My sense is BB is far more articulate than all three, and yet something very big was missing there…more lawyerly than even Clark.
What was that secret ingredient that Clinton and Obama and Reagan have? It might be something as simple as better acting ability…dunno….
Johnson is a much better candidate than Clark was
Maybe, as a folksy vote-for-this-guy candidate. But as a spokesman for the Libertarian brand and ideology, Johnson hasn’t yet caught up to Clark. I hope he tries.
What a shame. I loved Gary Johnson when he was governor of New Mexico. Now he’s associating with the likes of Root? Sorry Gary, I would have worked my butt off for your run, but not if you are going to surround yourself with shills, nuts and carpetbaggers. Guess I’ll be voting “none of the above” again this cycle. 🙁
Just my opinion- Root has assets as a VP candidate but Johnson has the ability to bring in libertarians from the more left wing as well (anti-war, legalization, Obama conspiracies, etc.). I feel that Root’s (Glenn Beck style hyperbolic attacks on liberals) style might very well alienate these folks. However if his campaigning is limited to more right wing venues this may not be much of an issue.
Hmmmm. I would have thought you would be backing Rutherford?
Wayne Root isn’t going to run for Chair.
Maybe I will.
I don’t get the sense that Root likes to play second fiddle.
I used to think that. But he ran for VP with Barr and he ran for at large when he didn’t get chair. I think he’ll take the best he can get.
@21-22 That’s what I thought, but the article/press release above talks about Root more than it does about Johnson, so maybe that’s why so many comments so far have been about Wayne.
Hopefully Johnson will be good at bringing grassroots Ron Paul supporters on board.
I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t get the sense that Root likes to play second fiddle.
From what I heard he will run.
However, if this super-wealthy person thing turns out to be true and not a mirage, maybe he won’t want to run for VP and lose.
In which case maybe he’ll run for chair again rather than having Rutherford run, or run for Vice Chair if Rutherford wins chair?
21 bw, thanks for putting this in context. It appears that GJ is reaching out to the leadership of the LP to introduce himself and his campaign to the party. That sounds like a good idea.
The Root-o-phobes among us reflexively assume the “worst” when WR does anything. To them, his middle name isn’t “Allyn,” it’s “Mephistopheles.”
Phobias are contra-indicated, leading to overreactions and confusion.
Tom is correct, Wayne is hosting the Town hall like Bill Redpath did a week or so ago. I hope the focus of the event will be to ask Gary questions on the issues and not time spent on trying to beat up on Wayne.
Are the California ‘Productive’ Pyatts related to the Ron Paul Daughter’s Husband who also has the Pyatt surname?
As far as Wayne promoting himself on Fox or other news appearances, he promoted the heck out of the LP. Why is that a bad thing, and who cares if he talked about his book at the same time?
As far as him being a ‘neocon’, that’s just immature Paulbot talk.
He’s nothing of the sort, not by Dictionary definition or by common use.
The only way one could call Wayne Root a ‘neocon’ is if the Ron Paul definition is used, which is ‘you don’t agree with me on foreign or military policy’.
As for Root as VP (again), I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t get the sense that Root likes to play second fiddle.
13 p, yes, I love that idea. That’s kinda what I’ve been getting at with names like Mackey and Cuban.
Compared with 1980, if someone can put into the campaign a fraction of what Koch did, I believe a ticket of Johnson/X could do far better that Clark/Koch. Johnson is a much better candidate than Clark was. Production costs and the ‘Net make getting the message out supremely less expensive.
I think there should be a female VP candidate, so I propose that Wayne get a sex-change operation and change his name to Toots.
I don’t think it’s Wayne. He may have that kind of money, but if so it’s probably tied up, and having a few million is not the same as having a few million you can afford to spend on a quixotic political campaign.
I think it is Wayne. He probably just lied to Gary about having a load of dough to drop trying to hook him into his wealth building program. Then again, maybe David Koch wants to go at it again.
Obama is hoping to raise $1 billion this time, so the LP candidate could probably get away with spending only $200-300 million to mount a half-ass campaign. Wayne, or Toots, shouldn’t have any trouble raising that much since he is so well known and loved by millions.
How about Johnson/Shaft?
Can you dig it?
I like a Johnson/Napolitano ticket, but would also like Johnson/Root except it sounds like two dicks trying to replace the prick in the White House.
I don’t know what some of you got against Wayne Root but I like him a lot He would make a great president. I’ll be voting for Gary Johnson no matter who his running mate is.
My sources tell me that Johnson has someone in mind that is willing to run and has the ability and willingness to spend several million $$ of their own money.
They refuse to tell me who this alleged person is.
415-690-6352 if anyone wants to clue me in confidentially.
I don’t think it’s Wayne. He may have that kind of money, but if so it’s probably tied up, and having a few million is not the same as having a few million you can afford to spend on a quixotic political campaign.
Just because they’re holding an event together, that doesn’t mean that Root is Johnson’s preferred VP candidate.
Yes, Root would hurt the LP ticket, but probably not that much, at least in second fiddle. Most of his damage has already been done, i.e. most of the votes he costs the LP, he has already cost it whether he’s actually on the ticket or not.
MC @ 9: ” you have to admit that he work for get the floor when it come to delivering the Libetarian message and improve the party.”
No, I don’t have to admit that. I believe he gets Wayne Root’s message out, which is sometimes damaging to the LP. Gary Johnson would be wise to spend time around many Libertarians to get a real understanding of Libertarians and Wayne Root. A Johnson/Root ticket would not be good, IMO.
9 MC: Root is the only viable choice for the LP Vice-Presidental nomnation.
ME: “Only”? Really? John Mackey wouldn’t be viable? Mark Cuban wouldn’t be viable?
I guess I need to understand what you mean by “viable” then…
Root is the only viable choice for the LP Vice-Presidental nomnation. Wayne has been on the political radar for five years and has made a name for himself on the national radio and cable news. That’s why he needs to be the VP.
Wayne has announced that he will have a syndicated radio show soon so I don’t know if that cause a conflict of interest. Anyhow, whether you guys like Wayne or not (and most of you don’t) you have to admit that he work for get the floor when it come to delivering the Libetarian message and improve the party.
I don’t know Wayne on a personal basis but I have followed him for at least five years now. Wayne Allyn Root is the future of the Libertarian Party and that’s a good thing.
Kubby would meet the requirement of bringing in those who won’t ever support a neocon like WAR.
Johnson needs to find a VP running mate who is well liked by Ron Paul people. Someone like Wrights who has no name ID would be fine, but Root would be damaging to the brand.
Johnson and Root? There goes the LP’s chacne of garnering more than 300k votes. I can not imagine that this time around people will not make a point of showing Root to be the neocon he is. I assume Root would be the David Cobb; ie making sure the ticket didn’t impair the GOP ‘s vote total.
What a shame. If a neocon like Root is on the ticket, the Paul supporters will never come onboard, nor will the independents, or disaffected Leftists like myself who would vote LP.
But I guess Root has lots of cash he is willing to drop into the race, or wait, he didn’t last time, he just used the campaign to promote himself on the LP’s dime.
Fail.
Johnson/Root 2012
Make it happen!
Johnson built a house in Taos. I think his fiancee is in Santa Fe.
Gary, you need to choose better friends.
I think he lives in Taos now. I could be wrong though.
Does Johnson now live in Santa Fe? When I lived in New Mexico he was from Albuquerque where his construction company was located. I understand his fiancee is from Taos so I am just curious.