Pirate's Cove

To answer your first question, yes, Gary Johnson was actually running for the GOP nomination. Yeah, I know, hard to believe.

(Politico) Gary Johnson will quit the Republican primaries and seek the Libertarian Party nomination instead, POLITICO has learned.

The former two-term New Mexico governor, whose campaign for the GOP nomination never caught fire, will make the announcement at a press conference in Santa Fe on Dec. 28. Johnson state directors will be informed of his plans on a campaign conference call Tuesday night, a Johnson campaign source told POLITICO.

In fact, the match never was even lit. He was barely involved, almost never mentioned, and was only a part of two nationally televised debates. So, after not even registering on the charts, he’s now going to run as a Libertarian. OK. Sure thing. But, what this may guarantee is that the media will talk about Johnson (or whomever gets the Libertarian nomination) in order to split the Republican vote. Take away enough, Obama wins.

Hinkle noted that Johnson remained a dues-paying member of the Libertarian Party while serving as the Republican governor of New Mexico.

Johnson’s efforts to attract attention included a bicycle tour of New Hampshire and web ads that described him as the ideological heir to libertarian hero Ron Paul.

So, Johnson is rather wacko? Figures.

Now, Johnson will seek the Libertarian nod at the party’s national convention in Las Vegas in May. Party officials said last month that they are holding out hope that Paul and former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura would contend for their nomination, though Paul is now the GOP front-runner in Iowa and Ventura is vacationing at his home in Mexico, where he does not have a telephone or an Internet connection.

That, unfortunately, tells you all you need to know about the Libertarian party, or, at least their leadership, when they want a conspiracy nut to be their candidate. And, yes, both Paul and Ventura are conspiracy nuts on a wide variety of issues, including 9/11, UFOs, and the CIA.

You know who’s really kicking himself? Tim Pawlenty. Had he stayed in the race, he might have ended up as the flavor to beat Mitt of the week, and stayed up there.

Anyhow, will Johnson run on a platform of repealing all drug laws? There’s a winner!

Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU.