The Libertarian presidential candidate, former Republican Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, believes former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden should be pardoned.
Since 2013, Snowden has been residing in Russia under temporary political asylum. If he were to return to the U.S., he would face federal charges for leaking classified documents.
While security proponents have praised him for revealing the extent of the NSA’s domestic surveillance capabilities, critics deem him a traitor and a criminal for seizing a trove of classified intelligence documents and compromising national security.
On May 29, Johnson was nominated for the Libertarian Party ticket after winning on the party convention’s second ballot in Orlando, Florida, according to The Associated Press.
“I am fiscally conservative in spades and I am socially liberal in spades,” Johnson said. “I would cut back on military interventions that have the unintended consequence of making us less safe in the world.”
Full post by Robert Fowler @ Opposing Views http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/gary-johnson-snowden-should-be-pardoned
I agree with Scott that GJ/WW will issue left-leaning statements far more than right-leaning ones. Rational beat me with one important reason: We are mis-perceived as Republican-lite, and I hope and expect there will be a concerted effort to reverse that. A second reason is that Gary has become far more liberal in the last dozen years or so. He is far more comfortable taking liberal positions (easy for him to do on social issues) than he is openly criticizing the welfare state.
So how does this play in the leftie media? Well AlterNet gave him a lukewarm endorsement on Snowden, even though the LP position is a million times better than that of the Democrats, yet simultaneously chastised him an Libertarians for wanting to cut Medicare, Medicaid and seeking support from the Koch brothers.
Some people are never pleased!
Yes, RC, this TV campaign is based on this year’s peculiar situation, our candidates, the weaknesses and strengths of Hillary and Trump, the special opportunity we have this year. This swing through mostly “blue” states reflects that. You are correct that LA and NYC for that matter are too expensive right now. But we can still reasonably plan to hit the rest of the markets in the first 5 and later the whole 11 of this group of states.
Our candidates are hot right now, we have momentum, this is why they should be rushing the first flight of TV spots out the door. We need to take advantage of our situation. Our candidates are hot, we’re getting free media and we need to keep that free media rolling.
So, we need to show that we’re earning and plan to continue earning the free media. One important way to do that is by running Major Network Broadcast TV spots and to do it now. The vacation months of summer – late June through early Sept are much less effective, and we could lose all of our momentum during this lull.
Yes it’s tough to produce such spots quickly, but it can be done in a day or two of intense work. This time period will pass, our momentum will ebb if we can’t maintain a reason to keep us in the 3rd ring of this campaign circus. Once the momentum has come – and gone – it is very, very rare to get it back again.
I’d be happy to see any PAC doing any advertising for the L ticket, in any market, at any time. Obviously, a 5 month strategy such as that suggested above would be nice. But, lets see ad buy number one before we start thinking about saturating 11 states next week.
br: In addition, many of these same states have large groups of voters that might Republican, but they are totally offended by the immigration and hate language of Trump.
me: I can grok your coastal bias, although it pains me to admit that.
My understanding is that CA has something like 8 media markets, some of them QUITE expensive, like LA. I wonder how do-able that state is.
I also wonder how quickly what you suggest could be accomplished. It’s a world about which I know little. I’d think that spots are produced and then shown to donors as a tease to solicit support. It might be that your schedule is too ambitious.
Thoughtful.
Assuming there is enough money for advertising, the NJ-NY-CT-RI area is essentially a libertarian dead zone. A very expensive dead zone. It should be avoided entirely. Resources would be better allocated to more rural areas, like Alaska or Nebraska. Or reach out to Hispanics in low population density states, like Arizona or Nevada.
It’s a bit early for any polling state by state on this election, especially with Trump, Clinton, and Johnson included. However, we can start with past elections and see which states are always D and always R.
For example: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/election-map-2012/president/
Most of the blue states stay blue and red stay red from one election to the next. This is expected to continue. Voters in these states are aware that their states are not in contention and their votes aren’t likely to be critical in the outcome. The D and R campaigns will not advertise there. We can have our message heard. We can reach more ears and swing more support our way with our limited resources.
We can gain enough traction to make 15% in the polls, but can we raise enough money to do it. We will ultimately need millions of dollars in advertising in just these 11 states – which will likely need to be mostly Super PAC money – to reach enough people to get our support up. Our advertising has to reach saturation levels, so we have to limit our target states.
Of the 11 states, 8 are fairly sure to be D states (blue) and 2 (NH and CO) are fairly sure to be battleground states. NH overlaps the others in the region so completely that it wouldn’t make any sense not to include it. NM could be a battleground state, but it makes sense to include NM (and MA) in our targeting for obvious reasons.
Eventually we would want to go beyond the first 5 or 11. Of course we have very little money for our first flight, which should be now, in mid June, but we should expect to come back again and again in these target areas. If more funds come in, another flight could be run in the same target states before, during and after the D and R conventions.
For the Johnson campaign, I would spend at least 10 cents per capita, per state, in the initial target states, on a series of ad flights over the coming months before moving on to add more states. For a PAC with (hopefully) greater funding, I’d say at least 30 cents per capita.
We don’t have that kind of money now, but momentum brings excitement and that can bring more donations.
Plus, if we get started now, the earned media can give us the extra boost we need to have significant nationwide coverage.
We’ve seen this year how the Trump supporters behave in primaries and we know about the large number of dissatisfied Ds. We also know which groups the Johnson / Weld campaign seems to be reaching out to. This plus the other details gives us our initial target information. By early fall, of course, everything could change. Even the D and R convention outcomes or potential scandals or indictments make this year especially fluid.
We can make a very good prediction as to which states have been and are likely to be battleground states, where the Ds and Rs and their Super PACs will dump hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising. Ads will cost more and our message is more likely to be drowned out. It’s easy to avoid these states since we don’t have enough money to go everywhere.
At the outset we need to find supporters, donors and individuals interested enough to declare for Johnson in polls. It is essential to start early and reasonable to extrapolate from what we know from past elections, our candidates themselves, the demographics of states, positions of Trump and Hillary, and the behavior of D and R voters so far this year to make informed choices and begin.
We should always remain alert to the fluidity of politics and be ready to adapt to what we learn as the campaign progresses.
That sounds interesting BR. But, do you have any polling information or other facts that lead you to these conclusions?
That sounds like an excellent strategy, BR!
I wonder if the campaign has started working on campaign literature yet, or started any state or community planning.
There you go, RC, a brief outline.
I hope someone in the Johnson campaign and the Purple PAC and other LP/Johnson Super PACs will read it.
The West Coast:
These 3 states are such strong D states that Trump will have to stay out to conserve money for the battleground states and Hillary will be able to ignore this region and focus her funds elsewhere too. We can make great inroads here without the noise of the other campaigns. They are contiguous, and they comprise 27% of the Electoral votes needed to make 270, so we can reach a signifcant portion of electorate with much less competition for air time. Both OR and WA have legalized marijuana, both are likely to go overwhelmingly to Hillary, so dissatisified Ds and Rs are all free to vote LP. The demographics in CA are good for turning out dissatisfied voters who will give the LP a look. These 3 states are all good for members, supporters, donations and polling numbers to get to 15%.
Of course advertising in such a populous region will be expensive. Both WA and OR are good targets to begin with as one of our first 5 states. If our budget is limited to $50,000 to start with, I’d pick WA but going with OR could fine as well.
For a Super PAC with $500,000 or more to spend NOW, they should do the whole 11 states above.
For the Johnson campaign, they should put up AT LEAST $50,000 to hit the first 5 states on this list (they raised over $100k at the banquet and should put it to use, now.. If they’ve managed to raise more than $150,000, they should up the ante and increase saturation or add states to the first 5.
The Johnson states:
NM is Gary Johnson’s home state and probably safe for Hillary. So, it’s a good target as well as an important state to make a showing.
CO is a neighboring where Johnson also has some name recognition. In addition to the successful marijuana referendum making this a good target. There is a fairly strong LP organization and some good LP candidates here as well.We should get in here early before the Ds and Rs start to advertise since this could very well be an important batleground state.
CO should be included in the first 5 if we can only do the small Johnson campaign budget now.
Other factors about the chosen list of states:
The 6 New England states are contiguous. The advertising markets overlap. Of course, we cannot afford NY City TV spots right away, so much of CT cannot be reached. These states are mostly safe for Hillary, they lean left Libertarian and Governor Weld is better known in this region. It should help generate support, members and donations.
This would be especially effective if the Massachusetts LP had worked for ballot status all these years. We can really build the party there, making 3% to gain party status is easy (especially this year) and registering voters to put candidates on the ballot is also easy. Time for the LP to be an official party or major party in every state.
ME, NH and VT are small, media cost is very low, so for a very small budget, these states would be among the first 5 nationwide.
Advertising now, on major network broadcast TV and earning free media will also show our supporters and donors AND potential donors and supporters that we are serious and that, this time, the Johnson campaign can be trusted to actualy put outreach FIRST.
In fact, if the Johnson campaign does NOT do this now, numerous supporters will be leery, they will wait till it’s too late or donate elsewhere.
We need to keep our momentum going. Momentum, once lost, is very difficult to regain.
We can raise our support level in these states, if we spend and advertise now – on major network broadcast TV – not cable, not internet. Of course using free social media is good, but we need to be on major network broadcast TV in these markets.
This will show we have a plan. If I elaborate more, it is a plan that has a plausible path to leverage the LP to victory in November.
The media will respond to us more if we BUY advertising on major network broadcast TV. It shows we’re serious, we know what we’re doing, and – very important – we have money to spend on their stations and networks. If we spend money they will cover us. The network where we buy ad spots will want to keep us happy and the networks where we don’t buy ad spots will want us to spend there at well. (Yes, they do think this way.) So, we’ll get news spots, coverage of events and interviews. We will earn our free media.
Why these states?
We have a VERY limited budget. We cannot advertise everywhere, we cannot buy enough repetitions to overcome a lot of noise in the battleground states. So (other than CO and NH) the chosen states (above) are not likely to be battleground states right away, if ever, in this election.
We DO need to reach a large number of people, people who will consider voting for us. The Trump fanatics are not likely to be torn away from their new savior. Most Trumpsters will stay and most Rs are so afraid of Hillary that they will stick with the R nominee.
Many Ds, on the other hand, do not like or trust Hillary. They would rather not vote for her. In those states that are perceived as totally safe for Hillary, they can be persuaded to look at us. Many will prefer the Libertarian message of Johnson / Weld. In states where Hillary is likely to win anyway, these voters can safely vote LP
In addition, many of these same states have large groups of voters that might lean Republican, but they are totally offended by the immigration and hate language of Trump. Since these states are already beyond the reach of any R candidate, these voters can safely vote LP.
In the 9 states above that are essentially sure things for Hillary, we can advertise and have our message heard. Our message will not be overpowered by Hillary and Trump ads fighting for every vote as they will in battleground states. Trump will not have enough funds to go nationwide. He’ll have to focus on serious battleground states. Hillary will have more money, but she too will need to focus on the battleground states and places that are close and that could turn against her. We can have our message heard, win support, support that should raise our standing in the polls to get additional free media and to have a shot at debate inclusion.
Why Now?
The reason we need to start advertising NOW – following the CA primary – from June 7 through June 21:
Johnson / Weld have made a splash just before, during and following the LP convention. It has been interesting. We have some momentum. Up to 10% or 11% in some polls. Now we have to keep the conversation going. We have to show the media that we’re serious, that we have a plan, that we will make a difference in November. This will keep the media interested and keep us in the news and on the talk programs. We can’t just SAY we’re going to do something – we have to prove it.
Early June, the primaries will be over, Hillary and Donald will have things wrapped up, there is some time before the nominating conventions for the Ds and Rs, people are still paying some attention and the media needs to keep it interesting. If the LP is threatening some political action that can stir the pot in November, they wil want to include us in the mix – we can continue to get free media.
As we get into the summer, people will be on vaction and involved in outdoor activities, so we need to make a splash and get some attention NOW, before summer vacations and activities make it harder to reach the public. We need to be in the conversation BEFORE their attention turns elsewhere or it will be too late to get that attention before the pre-debate polling.
By making a splash now, we can keep our momentum, keep ourselves in the minds of the voters and keep ourselves on track to be included in upcoming polls and to, hopefully, increase our polling numbers.
By advertising now we can earn more free media – that’s why it’s often referred to as “earned’ media. Now is our best chance to do it and keep our momentum. If we drop our momentum, it’s harder – probably too late – to get it back in time for the debate polls.
6 New England states:
ME … 4 electoral votes (Electoral votes are split: 2/1/1 in Maine)
NH … 4
VT … 3
MA …11
RI … 4
CT … 7
2 Johnson states:
NM … 5
CO … 9
3 West Coast states:
WA …12
OR … 7
CA … 55
Total: 121
br, OK, I’ll bite. Why those states and why your timetable?
Bill Weld: “Hillary Clinton should be pardoned.”
The Johnson campaign had little cash before the Presidential banquet at the convention. But they, too, need to show potential donors that their money will actually go somewhere this time.
$50,000 now guys. Put it out there.
Major Network Broadcast TV ads, between June 7 and June 21.
On this limited budget you’ll need to hit smaller markets.
Start with: ME, NH, VT, CO, WA
Please show us that you’re serious. Focus on these states until the big money rolls in.
(Of course more money would be better, but we need to believe in you.)
If the Purple PAC (or whatever it’s called) actually has $1 million on hand, they should be bold and begin. To have enough impact to be noticed, we’d need to run at least $500 k in spots between June 7 and June 21.
This would not only help the Johnson for President campaign, but the first PAC out the door on this, with good positive spots, will likely draw a lot more big donations.
The ads should all be positives about Johnson / Weld with a gentle libertarian message.
We should completely avoid going negative.
Johnson/Weld tracking “left” is just what we should do. The LP has been associated too much with the “right” for too long. So, we should focus on the “personal liberty” side of the Nolan chart. Run on the “blue” side, run hard to take votes from Hillary.
Of course our campaign should be balanced and also stress “economic liberty,” but with a bit more focus on the “personal liberty” issues.
Taking votes from Hillary is key. That will allow the voters who hate Trump to dump him and still stop Hillary. It will allow libertarian republicans to vote LP.
To accomplish this we must start advertising NOW – in June – before the doldrums of summer set in.
We need to run major network broadcast TV ads … NOW.
The campaign …
or a Johnson PAC …
Both would be even better.
We need the media to see that this is a serious effort, so the free publicity will continue.
We need to target regionally.
We should first target the following 11 states: (Re-evaluated and added one more.)
6 New England states: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT
2 Johnson states: NM, CO
3 West Coast states: WA, OR, CA.
We won’t have the funds initially for big cities, so they have to be left out for now: NYC, Chi, LA, DC etc.
We should run as much major network broadcast TV in these 11 states as possible. Our goal in this initial period is to draw large amounts of interest on the “personal liberties” side and put one of these states into play. Take away Hillary’s sure thing somewhere, and with everything up in the air, we will make the 15% in the polls and keep our share of the media spotlight.
Our ads should start directly following the CA primary.
Gee, if Gary Johnson did not say something like this, people who comment at IPR would be denouncing him as too much a Republican.
I guess you can’t please everybody.
SL, yes, GJ/WW are tacking somewhat left. This helps to differentiate them, and probably helps them get added to the list by pollsters. They will probably tack more right over the next few months, too.
Petersen was the Starr cabal’s candidate — hence the Burke alliance in Oregon by his campaign.
He fared as well as Starr did in his political ambitions — for reasons.
This is absolutely correct, by the way. Not only should Snowden be pardoned, but so should Manning.
And then we should celebrate them as national heroes.
Interesting comment, Dr. Lieberman. I’ll ponder it the next few days. My initial reaction, however, is that I’d be surprised if Republicans really considered Petersen to be a threat. He is a very young man without a long history of success, and certainly not political success. I believe you were a supporter of his, but to those who were not, like me–it just doesn’t seem like he was getting much buzz anywhere except from his devoted supporters.
I’m curious as to what others think.
This is only the first in a long series of remarks by Johnson and Weld that are designed to make sure that no conservative voter abandons Mr. Trump for the Libertarian ticket.
Compare the number of left-friendly remarks made by Johnson and Weld to the number of right-friendly remarks that they make during the general election campaign. I bet the ratio will be at least 6 to 1 left to right.
That is why it was so important for the Republican Party to make sure Petersen did not become the Libertarian Nominee. Petersen would have taken votes from Trump.
Good for him, although I’m afraid this statement may be too “controversial” for some of his supporters.
Of course, I’d like to see him go further. Snowden, Manning and Ulbricht should all get pardons. In fact, Snowden and Manning should get medals of honor.