From the Washington Times:
Monday, November 5, 2012
Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson could be the key to who wins the White House on Tuesday. Who that ultimately helps or hurts remains to be seen.
"Whichever candidate I make lose, that would open a debate and a discussion over the two parties," he told reporters recently. "What really is the difference between the two? Not much at all."
Tuesday’s results pose questions about the future of the self-branded "minimum government, maximum freedom" Libertarian Party.
"The Libertarian Party is hopefully going to [be] a player in the future," he told The Washington Times.
Significant chunks of voters in [swing] states are either disgusted by the two major party candidates or simply see themselves aligned with Mr. Johnson.
His policy positions range as deep and wide as those of Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who made headlines during the primaries as the only Republican presidential candidate with a truly libertarian bent.
The No. 1 issue facing America, Mr. Johnson said, is unsustainable government spending. Democrats and Republicans, Mr. Johnson says, go through the motions of appearing to be concerned about runaway federal spending. But when it comes to solving the problem, he says both major parties are in denial.
"Either party gets elected and we’re going to see that the police state will continue to grow, we’re going to find ourselves in a continued state of war, military interventions are not going to cease and spending will continue to be unsustainable, resulting at some point, I think sooner than later, in a monetary collapse."
If elected, Mr. Johnson said he would "submit a balanced budget to Congress in 2014 that would include a $1.4 trillion reduction in federal spending.
He advocates an immediate 43 percent cut in defense spending, "which takes us back to 2003 levels. We … have an obligation to provide ourselves with strong national defense, but I will stress that ‘defense’ is the operative word and not offense or nation-building, and I suggest that the biggest threat to our national security is that we are bankrupt."
