Gary Johnson Gets On New Hampshire Ballot
Gary Johnson. Remember him? Former (two-term) Republican governor of New Mexico? Running for president? Uncorked a good (albeit stolen) line, at one of the GOP debates about his neighbor’s dogs having created more shovel-ready jobs than Obama? Was bumped from another debate because his poll numbers were too low? Ring a bell? Well, anyway, more drama: he almost just missed his chance to get on the ballot for January’s New Hampshire primary. His campaign spaced on the deadline, and so, fresh off a red-eye flight from Arizona, Johnson reportedly rushed to sign the necessary papers in person this morning in Concord, N.H., hours ahead of the cutoff.
As our own Tim Dickinson found when he interviewed Johnson a few months ago, the former governor is not your typical Republican, circa 2011. He’s a deficit hawk. He wants to legalize pot. He’s ambivalent about abortion. He would do away with corporate tax and repeal Obamacare, but believes in man-made climate change. He’s a successful entrepreneur. Alone among the GOP presidential hopefuls, he has climbed Mount Everest. To introduce himself to the good voters of New Hampshire, he spent six days touring the state – by bike. Anyway – phew! – he made it onto the first-in-the-nation primary ballot.