The conventional political wisdom says that the entry of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, into the presidential race is bad news for former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, since the two will compete for similar voters in the Republican primary. However, a former Giuliani speechwriter and the staffers at High Times , the magazine devoted to marijuana, both agree that Johnson is the better choice between the two longshot libertarian Republicans.
“„Despite enjoying the most enthusiastic supporters, he ultimately won 16 Republican delegates in the 2008 campaign with results like a fifth place showing in New Hampshire, despite a ideological enthusiastic hometown crowd of “Free Staters” who flooded the “Live Free or Die” state to exercise their libertarian beliefs. Nonetheless, there is still no shortage of enthusiasm or confidence among Ron Paul supporters—before the announcement of this exploratory committee, his fans on RonPaul.com simply asked: “Ron Paul Can Win in 2012! But Will He Actually Run?” #
“„An hour later, Black shared the verdict: Johnson 9, Paul 1, Undecided 2. He added: “Out of 12 HT staffers polled, 9 would choose Gary Johnson over Ron Paul for the nomination and/or presidency. Two were undecided, and one chose Paul. Reasons given included that he was younger, more electable, even Kennedy-esque. Ron Paul was viewed by three staffers as a ‘nut,’ with one staffer even joking that if Paul was elected he’d be so scared that he’d get himself a bunker. Actually, the one person who chose Paul did so because he said he identified with him being a more radical, kooky candidate.” #