Rumor has it the former NM governor Garry Johnson will be a candidate.

I worked for the state DOH while he was Governor, and appreciated his approach (though there were many state employees loathed him…). Apparently he was the most vetoin’ governor in the country at the time. I’ve been told that he vetoed more legislation than all other governors in the country combined.

He got into politics as a successful small business man through libertarian channels. After he was elected as a libertarian guv the state political parties legislated the state libertarian party out of legal recognition and standing – so he became a republican almost by default.

He’s a real proven fiscal conservative – look closer when he hits the stage. He’s most famous for his legalization arguements, but even his arguments for defunding the drug war are based on a sound cost/benefit analysis, ie what are we getting for our investment?.

He also managed to arrange for the lottery success scholarship, which gives every high school student in NM a tuition free college education (kudos!), and was even able to succesfully keep the legislatures hands off the money! This was a very clever voluntary self tax on people who can’t count, to support those who want to learn how to. The lottery has broad popular support as even non gamblers will occasionally buy a ticket, much like you would buy a raffle ticket from the local soccer team, after all even if you “lose” the fee pays part of some kids tuition.

Anyways, his story is much more interesting than the MSM’s superficial examination would suggest.

I would absolutely love to see Johnson and the NJ gov Christie get paired and promoted to executive federal positions, from which to tag team their way through the beaurocracy. I think these two would not be phased by the beaurocratic barricades. Not one bit.