Former governor of New Mexico and erstwhile Republican candidate for president Gary Johnson has reportedly decided to jump ship and seek the Libertarian Party nomination instead. Politico claims Johnson will make the long-rumored announcement at a press conference in Santa Fe, NM on Dec. 28. Johnson’s Facebook page does list an event on the 28th, but campaign spokesman Joe Hunter is playing coy, committing only to his candidate making “a significant announcement” on the day. The Libertarians will choose their standard bearer at their national convention in (where else?) Las Vegas in May.
While Johnson’s advocacy of online poker has garnered him much love from the Poker Players Alliance and the 2+2 forum crowd, his campaign has been largely ignored by the Republican cognoscenti and most of the media — a fact underscored by his inability to secure a regular podium spot at the overcrowded Republican nominee debates. Johnson must shake his head at the continued candidacy of Rick ‘oops’ Perry, who just this week posted a commentary on the death of North Korea’s “Kim Jong the Second” to his campaign website (until it was hurriedly taken down by mortified staffers).
But Johnson just can’t seem to buy a break. On the same day Politico broke its story, the media was abuzz with news that Sarah Palin’s October announcement that she was officially out of the presidential running was, er, unofficial. The former Alaska governor (and perennial “great masturbation material” for comedian Tracy Morgan) now says: “It’s not too late for folks to jump in. Who knows what will happen in the future?” Yes, who knows? Johnson’s third-party bid for the presidency might even bump up against Donald Trump’s potential run as an independent once the current season of The Apprentice wraps. Seriously, is this a presidential election or auditions for clown college?
Gary, while we at CalvinAyre.com love our libertarians, your bid for the presidency has ‘into the valley of death rode the six hundred’ written all over it. Best case scenario, we all get a head start on our homemade “Johnson: 2016” banners. Still, it’ll be a shame when he loses that race to the Palin/Tebow ticket.
