Johnson Is a Real Person

Good Thursday morning, Friends,

Gary Johnson is a total breath of fresh air.

In a town meeting broadcast from the University of New Hampshire yesterday, he and Libertarian running mate Gov. Bill Weld had an hour of face time with Chris Matthews on MSNBC.

How would you respond to this? "Name your favorite foreign leader."

That question caught Gov. Johnson by complete surprise as it would most anyone on live TV under some very hot lights and knowing you have a split second to respond.

His initial reply was, "I'm sorry, but I'm having another Aleppo moment," referring to the gaffe that nearly sank his campaign, and then said something like "I'm having a brain fff..," when he was interrupted by Weld.

So, if you can name me, you win the grand
prize. It's all in pesos.

Johnson eventually said he liked the former president of Mexico, and after Matthews pressed him with "which one," Johnson said he just couldn't remember his name.

Weld quickly interjected, "Fox."

Yep. That's who he meant, Vicente Fox.

But what was so nicely human about the kerfuffle was Johnson freely admitting again that he's human and makes mistakes. And he doesn't know everything.

What he did know was everything he should have known about the complicated situation in Syria, the massacre that is happening in Aleppo, and how he'd address the situation. In other words, he had boned up.

So that's two things in Gary Johnson's favor. He admits when he's wrong, and he finds out what he needs to know.

I can't help but like Gary Johnson. He is a real person. And he has an impressive resume.

Even though the two-term Republican New Mexico governor is now officially a "Libertarian," politically speaking, he has very moderate ideas...and he's basically a pacifist.

He and Weld plan to present a balanced federal budget during their first 100 days in office. That's a third thing to like about them.

When you add Johnson's administrative experience to that of two-term Massachusetts governor Bill Weld's, they make one of the most formidable duos to run for the presidency in many elections.

Together they have 16 years as elected chief executives and promise us the first co-presidency.

This team makes a laughing stock out of the Republican offering, and has as impressive credentials as the Democrats do--without Hillary Clinton's baggage.

Quite frankly, the only drag on this ticket is that it has an 'L' next to it rather than a 'D' or 'R'.

Shame on the media for paying so little attention to Johnson and Weld and giving so much coverage instead to an absolute charlatan.

We're in crunch time. There are just 40 days until the election. It's time for the media to pay attention to substance rather than the shiny object that's been dangled in front of them for the last 15 months.

I am going to do something on the order of Gary Johnson. I'm going to admit I made a mistake in endorsing Hillary Clinton after Monday's debate. I'm retracting that for now.

I want to see more of Johnson and Weld...a lot more.