I really didn't intend to comment on the Green Party or the Libertarian Party candidates this cycle. Just a waste of time, waste of space, and/or a "promotion" of those candidates who may be spoilers rather than the real candidates. The real and binary choice that will result in the election of the leader of the free world this fall is between the Democratic and Republican candidates for the Presidency - either Hillary of Donald will, in fact, be elected President of the United States in November. But, after the comments that Gary Johnson (Libertarian) made on the day of the "Commander and Chief" forum, I just have to comment. So as not to give even more time and space to a minor party candidate, I will keep this entry short.
First, Gary Johnson is no dope. He founded his own company in New Mexico as a young man and built it into one of the largest construction firms in the state. He was elected Governor of New Mexico in 1994 and was re-elected in 1998. He served two terms as Governor and was viewed as a fiscal conservative and a level-headed person. I assume that he was tuned into the public policy discussions of the time in his home state and, as someone seeking the Presidency on the Libertarian line, I further believed that Johnson had a continuing interest and a good baseline understanding of the national issues that we face today (unlike one of the two major party candidates). As demonstrated in polling - both national and in some states - Johnson was edging up toward 15%. If he made that mark in national polling in a few weeks, he would have a podium on the debate stage along with Donald and Hillary for the Presidential Debates under the sponsorship of the Debate Commission. And, if he got there, there was a potential to re-shuffle the presidential deck. I thought that Johnson could possible get there, given the dissatisfaction that the public has expresed in the current two major party candidates. Boy, was I wrong.
The "Commander and Chief" forum was organized to provide a focus on issues impacting veterans, the military, and foreign policy. Insofar as Johnson was not given the opportunity to present in that forum, several news outlets, notably MSNBC, offered him a one-on-one interview on similar topics with one of their correspondents. The interviewer turned out to be Mike Barnicle, a well-known and experienced print and broadcast news writer and journalist. After preliminary pleasantries to get the guest comfortable, Barnicle asked a very simple question - one that Donald Trump might even be able to answer. The simple question was, "if elected President, what would you do about Aleppo?" Shockingly, Gary Johnson's response was, "what is Aleppo?" Barnicle asked Johnson if he was kidding and, Johnson responded, "no." Barnicle then proceeded to explain that Aleppo was the current focus of the combat in Syria and the central focus of the entire refugee problem, not to mention the humanitarian issue of those civilians trapped in that war-torn city. Like Mike Barnicle, I was floored. Maybe Johnson thought that Aleppo was one of the Marx Brothers!
My opinion is that this exchange, now widely reported and viral on line, will likely be the last hurrah of the Johnson campaign and end the Libertarian candidate's hope of getting his national poll numbers up to 15% to secure a place on the debate stage. His flub - spectacular in its magnitude - will cause him to sink in the polling ahead and, once again, continue the Libertarian Party as a minor, also-ran footnote in Presidential history. Anyone who is even slightly engaged in the public policy debates of 2016, especially on foreign policy, military issues, refugee problems, at-home national security, and the tug and pull of international relations, cannot avoid seeing and hearing over and over again the story of the battle for Aleppo and the refugee crises that has resulted. Maybe former New Mexico Governor Johnson could go in search of Aleppo..... I heard from the Trump campaign that Aleppo might be under wraps and under guard at Area 51.
Crash and burn, Johnson.......
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