SANTA FE, N.M. — For state lawmakers here who used to work with Gary Johnson, something is familiar about the former governor’s baffled looks that have turned into an embarrassment for his third-party presidential campaign.
Longtime Republican state Sen. Stuart Ingle recalled how Mr. Johnson, soon after taking office in 1995, mostly shrugged and stared during their first meeting together. As Mr. Ingle asked Mr. Johnson questions about his agenda, Mr. Ingle said, Mr. Johnson’s most common refrain was, “I don’t know.”
…Over the next eight years, New Mexico lawmakers would struggle to work with a governor who paid little attention to details. Those who worked closely with Mr. Johnson, then a Republican elected as a political novice vowing to shake up the established order, recall a chief executive who would speed through meetings and often preferred to discuss his fitness routine than focus on the minutiae of policymaking.
…Although he describes himself as a social liberal, Mr. Johnson angered many on the left when he ended collective bargaining for state employees and cut off Medicaid funding for abortions that doctors deemed medically necessary. Mr. Johnson now says he regrets the Medicaid decision.
(but apparently not the whole depriving women of medical procedures deemed necessary by their doctors part. He’s totally OK with having done that.)
Meanwhile, Mr. Weld vowed to remain Mr. Johnson’s running mate but said his main goal was to stop Mr. Trump.
“Mr. Trump’s proposals in the foreign policy area, including nuclear proliferation, tariffs and free trade, would be so hurtful, domestically and in the world, that he has my full attention,” Mr. Weld said.
In theory, Mr. Weld’s efforts could help Democrat Ms. Clinton, whose allies have sought to minimize support for Mr. Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, especially in three states where third parties could make a big difference: Colorado, Missouri and New Mexico. President Barack Obama has suggested that Americans who vote for Mr. Johnson or Ms. Stein, or who decline to cast ballots, are in effect voting for Mr. Trump.
hmmm
Comments From The Peanut Gallery 