EXCLUSIVE: Gary Johnson Lays Out Immigration Vision, Objects to Term 'Illegal Immigrant,' [tr]

Townhall ^ | August 31, 2016 | Buy Benson

[C19fan]

Public support for Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson currently sits at roughly eight percent in national polling, a little more than half of the level he needs to be included in the fall debates, according to the rules. The former two-term Republican Governor of New Mexico has come under fire from some conservatives for acting as a potential spoiler for Donald Trump -- in fact, Trump is benefitting from Johnson's presence in the race -- while others argue that the advocate for limited government has spent too much time and energy pandering to disgruntled left-wing voters. What is his sales pitch to disaffected elements of the center-right? I posed that question and many others to Johnson in an extended, exclusive sit-down interview earlier this week. The first installments of our conversation are featured below

[ilgipper]

Still trying to figure out what makes Johnson and big government Weld remotely libertarian. The big L in the party seems to be more of a progressive liberal.

[Bigg Red]

Invaders

[Bigg Red]

I doubt he’ll do well. In reality, a healthy percentage of New Mexicans don’t like illegals.

&&
But how many of them are up to speed on his stance?

[IYAS9YAS]

But how many of them are up to speed on his stance?

Only those who are paying attention, but it's made more news here in NM, simply because he is a former Governor.

[elpadre]

Right - it as only a few years ago the word “immigrant” meant one who entered the country legally and possessed a “green card.”

[libstripper]

The surprising thing about Johnson is he’s not Libertarian at all. Most important is he agrees with the anthropogenic global warming superstition, making him a prime statist who will impost a crushing regulatory burden on everyone through carbon consumption controls. He also seems to like the idea of SCOUS justices like Ginsberg. All in all, that makes him a lot like John Anderson in 1980 and no real Libertarian.

[ek_hornbeck]

If you look at most polls in RealClearPolitics, Hillary's margin over Trump shrinks when Gary Johnson and Jill Stein added to the poll as compared to just Hillary vs. Trump. Most 2-way races give Hillary a 5-6 point lead, whereas in the 4 way race her lead shrinks to 3-4 points.

Jill Stein's vote is negligible, so this means that Johnson is taking at least as many would-be Democratic as would-be Republican voters.

Since Johnson/Weld's ersatz "libertarianism" is basically just Clinton-style liberalism with a tax cut, it really isn't surprising that Johnson takes as many (or more) votes from Hillary as he does from Trump. If he's a "spoiler" at all, he may be a spoiler in our favor.

[KeyLargo]

Clinton, 1995, immigration, SOTU Bill Clinton talking about immigration in the 1995 State of the Union.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4351026/clinton-1995-immigration-sotu