Gary Johnson To Launch Presidential Bid In February?

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson To Launch Presidential Bid In February?

Doug Mataconis · · 1 comment

Gary Johnson isn’t your typical Republican.

He supported Ron Paul in 2008, and has spent a good part of the 2010 election season speaking out in favor of California’s Prop 19, which would legalize marijuana. At the same time, he had a fairly successful eight years as Governor of New Mexico, and is one of that small set of Republican politicians who has been fairly consistent in governing as the fiscal conservative he campaigned as.

That’s why I find this possibility very interesting:

Gary Johnson, former New Mexico governor, is hinting he will announce a 2012 presidential bid early next year — in February, to be exact. Although Johnson refused to directly discuss his widely anticipated run, he did suggest in a meeting with The Daily Caller that should he run, he would announce his candidacy in February.

Johnson would be an incredible long shot, of course, but his candidacy would give voice to a libertarian-oriented wing of the GOP that, until now, only had a few Representatives like Ron Paul, Dana Rohrbacher, and Tom McClintock to count as one of its own. He’s one of the few potential Republican candidates for 2012 that actually interests me, so hopefully he’ll be able to make some kind of an impact.