From Jacob Sullum of Reason Magazine on June 29:
“The matchup between Hillary Clinton, one of the most uptight politicians ever, and Donald Trump, a loose-lipped lunatic who revels in saying whatever pops into his head, promises some entertaining presidential debates. But Americans who would like to see a clash of ideas as well as a clash of styles should hope the Libertarian nominee, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, gets the poll numbers he needs to appear on the stage with Clinton and Trump.
“Johnson, a triathlete and mountain climber who founded a successful construction business before getting into politics and recently left a job as CEO of a cannabis company, is highly disciplined yet easygoing in a way that neither Clinton nor Trump can pull off. More important, as he showed in a CNN town hall last week, he challenges voters to question their assumptions about which political positions go together.
“Clinton wants to ban (at least some) guns but defends abortion rights, while Trump wants to ban abortion but defends gun rights. Johnson and his running mate, former Massachusetts governor William Weld, want the government to respect abortion rights and gun rights.
“When it comes to choices in your own life,” Johnson says, “you should be able to make those choices as long as you’re not doing harm to others.” That includes, for example, someone who “takes the edge off” at the end of the day with marijuana rather than alcohol. And when drug use causes problems, Johnson says, those are “health issues…not criminal justice issues.”
