Gary Johnson? You mean the republican Nader? The guy trying to run as a libertarian? That Gary Johnson?
Last I heard, he was just
considering a Libertarian run. I liked him better as a Republican. If he actually has turned on Republicans and become a thorn in their side, that makes him far less appealing.
I like the idea of a Republican who can reach out to Democrats, without being a RINO.
Johnson has a good record as governor of cutting budgets in his own state, and standing up to budget waste, whether it comes from the Republican or Democrat side of the aisle.
Like Romney, Johnson's ability to be elected and retain popularity in an overwhelmingly Democrat state speaks well of his ability to unite unite the nation and get bipartisan support.
I still feel Gingrich is the most capable. And maybe we need a Republican who will just assertively and unapologetically be a Republican conservative and get things done. I really think Perry, Bachmann, Santorum or Huntsman would all fill that bill as well.
Romney is less reliably conservative, and could be too conciliatory toward Democrats to push through the needed changes that a Gingrich or some other solid conservative would. But Romney would arguably be less bombastic and more diplomatically advance conservative ideals in a way that would be more uniting and less partisan.
In the cases of both G.W. Bush and Obama, both campaigned as uniters and then were more divisive and then governed more partisanly and divisively than their predecessors.
Bush in particular was a very bipartisan guy when he was Texas governor, and I would argue the partisan forces unleashed on him forced him to be more partisan himself in retaliation. By comparison, Obama has gotten a relative free ride, and has never been nearly as hated and bashed by the media as Bush, or even from his conservative opposition.
