Gary Johnson To Announce Jump To Libertarian Party on 12/28

My preference is that he announces a run for Senate in New Mexico but he didn't ask my opinion.

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.

The move has been expected for weeks — Johnson had run a New Hampshire-centric effort that never got him past a blip in the polls. He appeared at only two nationally televised debates, and only one in which other major candidates took part.

Johnson has announced the Dec. 28 event on his Facebook page. Campaign spokesman Joe Hunter said only that it would be “a significant announcement.”

Calling news of the switch “the worst kept secret,” Libertarian Party Chairman Mark Hinkle said the Santa Fe event will include a press conference at which Johnson will switch his voter registration to Libertarian.

Via Memeorandum

Gary Johnson For Senate

With the former Governor of New Mexico being shut out of the GOP Presidential race by the mediots and pollsters, he is seriously weighing a run for the Libertarian Party nomination.

But is this the best course of action?

Gary Johnson's voice is too important to be silenced on the national level but due to factors, some of his own making, he has failed to gain traction with the national electorate. A run on the LP ticket is, in my opinion, a quixotic fantasy for Gov Johnson and while it may influence the Presidential race somewhat and give him an opportunity to be on the same stage as Obama and the GOP nominee during the debates, I don't see his chances of winning in the General Election any better than they were in the GOP primaries.

In the past, Gov Johnson has ruled out a run for retiring NM Senator Jeff Bingaman's seat (much in the same way he ruled out jumping to the LP, it should be mentioned) stating that he does not believe in a Senator's ability to make a difference.

That is all well and good but we have seen that a limited-government, pro-liberty Senator can make a difference and that man, Rand Paul, needs all the allies he can get.

Gary Johnson also has a chance to actually win the NM Senate seat. While the latest PPP poll shows that he would have some ground to make up against current GOP frontrunner and favorite Rep Heather Wilson who leads the former Governor by a 42-31% margin, remember that he is not even campaigning for the seat while Wilson is.

But that's the bad news. Looking deeper at the PPP numbers, Johnson has 45/39 favorable/unfavorable opinion by those polled while Wilson is almost the opposite at 37/46.

Better still, when compared to Democratic frontrunners Rep Martin Heinrich and State Auditor Hector Balderas (Heinrich leads Balderas 47-30), Gov Johnson is tied with Heinrich at 43% and beating Balderas 44-38. Meanwhile, Rep Wilson trails Heinrich 47-40 and is tied with Balderas at 43%.

As you can see, this race is Gary Johnson's for the taking. He's not even campaigning for the spot and is still well positioned to win.

Gov Johnson, I beg you, stop tilting at windmills and take what you are being given. Six years of Gary Johnson in the Senate is far better than nothing.