Former New Mexico Governor and 2012 presidential candidate Gary Johnson will be speaking both Thursday and Friday, Feb. 26-27, at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC.
Thursday, at 4:15 p.m. on the main stage, Gov. Johnson will participate in a debate on marijuana legalization, moderated by Townhall’s Mary Katherine Hamm. At 3:10 p.m. Friday, he will be a panelist for a session entitled, “Lowering the Boom: When to Stand Up to Rogue Nations”.
Gov. Johnson currently serves as the Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative, a national advocacy organization dedicated to free markets and individual liberties. Our America will have a booth at the conference.
Gov. Johnson will be on-site at CPAC both Thursday and Friday, and is available to the media. To schedule an interview, please contact Joe Hunter, (801) 303-7924 or [email protected].
“Interesting. I shouldn’t be surprised by this, but it’s something to keep in mind when somebody accuses Johnson of being un-Libertarian for showing up at an event that has “conservative” in the name. ”
I’ve long had a problem with the LP and libertarians in general being present at CPAC Makes it really hard to argue that libertarianism is not a right-wing ideology, among other things, such as libertarians frequently running as Republicans and almost never as Democrats.
“The LP has done outreach at CPAC, although I don’t know how effective it has been.”
Interesting. I shouldn’t be surprised by this, but it’s something to keep in mind when somebody accuses Johnson of being un-Libertarian for showing up at an event that has “conservative” in the name.
I agree, in general, with the criticism that the LP at some times in its past has been way to focused on reaching out to conservatives than the left and center. We should always position libertarianism as being equidistant from the two, even centrist in a sense. Which is exactly what Johnson tends to do. However, that doesn’t mean we should *never* reach out to conservatives, any more than we should *never* reach out to liberals, or non-libertarian centrists.
Johnson has also never been one to pursue the “disgruntled conservative” strategy, if anything his focus has always been slightly more on more left-leaning issues than right-leaning ones. I’ve never heard Johnson try to pitch himself as “the true conservative” (like Ron Paul and Bob Barr did), or even describe himself as a conservative at all without the “fiscal” modifier. I don’t think you could call him an unqualified “conservative” to his face without drawing some sort of correction or rebuke. If we were talking about a Libertarian candidate with a history of pandering to the right, it might be more of a concern, but that simply isn’t the case for Johnson. Nobody talks about marijuana legalization and gay marriage and being the highest-scored candidate by the ACLU as much as Johnson does, if they’re focused on reaching the far-right flank of the GOP.
I don’t think one has to posit a CIA conspiracy to believe that Barr both sincerely opposes torture, and that all the other negative things one could cite about him are true.
Hell, even John McCain opposes torture.
” that Democrats”
Should read, “than Democrats..”
Another factor with Bob Barr is look at his record when he was in Congress. He was not a libertarian. Then he supposedly “found Jesus” (so to speak) and became a Libertarian, but then while a party member, he continued to raise money for big government Republican candidates, and he made several statements that indicated that he was not serious about being a Libertarian, such as opening supporting US military intervention in Columbia to fight the drug war. He purposely skipped all of the state party conventions before announcing that he was running for the Libertarian Party Presidential nomination so that he would not have to debate any of the other candidates in unscripted debates, and then at the national convention, he skipped the two unscripted debates that were held and only participated in the debate that was held on the convention floor, which just so happened to be the only debate that was scripted (as in the candidates knew all of the questions in advance). Then after winning the nomination, he runs a lackluster, uninspiring campaign, and then not too long after this, he goes back to the Republican Party, where he goes on to endorse Newt Gingrich in the Republican primaries, and then Mitt Romney in the general election.
Does any of this sound like a guy who was really serious about libertarianism, or does it sound more like the work of a political opportunist and/or a saboteur?
Consider this for the Bob Barr situation above. Say you are with the CIA or the Republican Party, and you want to neutralize the Libertarian Party. It would make sense to have some guy go out and mouth libertarian rhetoric, but then direct people into voting for the likes of Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. This perpetuates the myth that mainstream Republicans are “sort of like libertarians” or are “more libertarian” that Democrats (I consider them to be equally as bad), so it is a good way to keep some people who may have some libertarian sympathies or leanings on the “Republican plantation,” or more accurately, on the “big government plantation.”
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Andy Craig
February 25, 2015 at 8:54 pm
The opportunity at CPAC and events like it is not outreach to those there. I promise you nobody is attending CPAC who doesn’t already know exactly who they’re supporting for President. Rather it’s about the high concentration of media coverage, and the possibility for some broader public attention that way.”
The LP has done outreach at CPAC, although I don’t know how effective it has been.
Dave said: “On a side note, I know Bob Barr is not loved around here, for good reason. But I believe it was at CPAC where he stood up against a hostile crowd and bravely spoke out against torture. This was after his presidential run, even. That’s the only positive thing I can recall about him, but I still respect him for that.”
It is hard to say what somebody really believes, but one thing to do is to examine somebody’s actions and not just their words. Since being the LP’s candidate for President, Bob Barr helped former Hatian dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier return to Haiti to “bring his message of hope to the people” (or something like that), and he endorsed Newt Gingrich in the Republican primaries, and he said that Libertarians should all vote for Newt Gingrich, and then after Gingrich lost in the primaries, Bob Barr endorsed Mitt Romney for President. Bob Barr also never paid libertarian author James Bovard for the ghost writing that he did for his 2008 campaign for President, even though Bovard took him to court and won a decision against him.
So Bob Barr may have sounded good in that speech, but given his track record, one would have to wonder if it is not all a part of a plan to co-opt the Libertarian Movement in this country to neutralize it, especially given that Barr is former (?) CIA.
The opportunity at CPAC and events like it is not outreach to those there. I promise you nobody is attending CPAC who doesn’t already know exactly who they’re supporting for President. Rather it’s about the high concentration of media coverage, and the possibility for some broader public attention that way. That’s why any candidate bothers to attend.
“I wonder what the general opinion of Barr would be among Ls if he has not run for POTUS as a Libertarian.” If the player ain’t playin’ ain’t nobody gonna be hating on him.
I wonder what the general opinion of Barr would be among Ls if he has not run for POTUS as a Libertarian.
From my understanding, CPAC is (in theory anyway) supposed to be open to conservatives of all stripes, be they fiscal, social or both. They’ve hosted everyone from the John Birch folks to neoconservatives. It’s a bit of a misnomer to label libertarians as conservatives, but certainly I think some of the LP’s ideas should appeal to self described conservatives.
Johnson speaking on marijuana legalization is encouraging,and I look forward to video. I’m a bit more apprehensive about his comments on rogue nations. Hopefully he doesn’t say anything that encourages more foreign intervention. I dislike what’s going on in the mid east now as much as anyone, but if the past decade have taught me anything, it’s that meddling over there only wastes lives and money and breeds even more resentment.
On a side note, I know Bob Barr is not loved around here, for good reason. But I believe it was at CPAC where he stood up against a hostile crowd and bravely spoke out against torture. This was after his presidential run, even. That’s the only positive thing I can recall about him, but I still respect him for that.
Libertarians do need to work harder on finding points of agreement with people who aren’t Libertarians yet.
On the other hand, CPAC has been actively hostile to libertarians in the past. They also have a policy of excluding gay Republican groups such as Log Cabin and GOProud.
ACU (the organizer) seems to be intent in purging the conservative choir down to a small enough size to preach to. While they have this policy, it doesn’t seem a fruitful place for outreach, though I am interested to hear about how Gary Johnson/OAI are received.
If anyone reading is in the DC area and would like to help with the OAI/GJ booth get in touch with Bruce Majors. If you don’t know how to get in touch with him comment back and I will put you in touch.
Andy February 25, 2015 at 12:02 am
“I’ve always had an issue with libertarians participating at a conservative conference. I wouldn’t go to CPAC even if they paid me.”
This attitude, more than any other single issue explains why the LP has been so unsuccessful,
how can we get anywhere when half of us are hopping on their left foot and the other half are hopping on their right foot.
Example:
ACLU POSITION
Given the reference to “a well regulated Militia” and “the security of a free State,” the ACLU has long taken the position that the Second Amendment protects a collective right rather than an individual right.
https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice_prisoners-rights_drug-law-reform_immigrants-
rights/second-amendment.
Q: Why would any Libertarian join the ACLU and attend its’ meetings?
A: So, we can work together on those things we agree on and hopefully convince them that
some of their opinions and attitudes are just as biased as the CPAC.
Dave Terry,
Member, ACLU
I agree. Hopefully we’ll see Gary at lots of events such as Hempfest, ACLU conferences, etc. Same for any other prominent LP speakers and candidates.
“Jed Ziggler Post author
February 24, 2015 at 11:40 pm
I’ve always had an issue with libertarians participating at a conservative conference. I wouldn’t go to CPAC even if they paid me.”
I am not necessarily opposed to Libertarians doing outreach to conservatives, but what I really don’t like is the over-emphasis on doing outreach to conservatives that this party has done since its inception, which is one of the reasons that the party is not more successful. There needs to be a more balanced outreach effort, as in there needs to be more outreach done with people on the left, as well as to independents and non-voters.
If the LP is going to table and/or have speakers at CPAC, then they out to do the same at a left leaning event, as well as at a non-political events where they will likely run into lots of independents and non-voters.
I’ve always had an issue with libertarians participating at a conservative conference. I wouldn’t go to CPAC even if they paid me.
Good to see his participation.