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Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson does third Reddit AMA

"I don't think there are any major differences between me and Dr. Ron Paul," Johnson told Reddit's "Ask Me Anything" forum.

 

Kevin Collier

Tech

Posted on Sep 26, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 10:30 am CDT

Internet political cult hero and Libertarian candidate for President Gary Johnson came to Reddit Wednesday for his third Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with users—and second in two weeks.

Though he’s no President Obama (the site wasn’t in danger of shutting down from being bombarded by millions of users) Johnson, a fiscal conservative, social liberal, and former two-term governor of New Mexico, is particularly popular with Internet libertarians. Much of his support comes from the sizeable contingent of Representative Ron Paul (R-Tex.), who have pledged to vote for Johnson this election, even though Paul won’t actually endorse anyone outside his party.

In an hour, Johnson addressed twenty-eight questions—though, to be fair, he had already tackled plenty of big ones in previous AMAs, like “When did you last smoke [marijuana]?” (“2008 I had used marijuana for the prior 3 years to deal with a serious paragliding accident.”)

Here are the highlights from Johnson’s latest Reddit Q&A session:

In general, what are the major differences between you and Ron Paul? (SensitiveGangster)

i don’t think there are any major differences between me and Dr. Ron Paul.

How high are the odds do you think of you winning, or at least making a major dent in the other candidates? Do you think it will give yourself a shot in the future by helping to make yourself more known to the masses? (SHv2)

You can not win if you are not on the ballot in all 50 states. We are currently on the ballot in 47 states and litigated in the other 3. We have a shot. If everyone will waste their vote on me, I will be the next President of the United States. A WASTED VOTE IS VOTING FOR SOMEONE YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN.

How would you solve the problem with trying the detainees at Gitmo and how would you bring about an end to the war on terror? (jasonskjonsby)

We absolutely need to stop the practice of detainment without charge and torture. Stop the practice of military interventions.

What is your official stance on the War on Drugs, and how do you plan on handling it? (this_man_loves_trees)

Legalize Marijuana, End the Drug War

Any word on getting into the presidential debates? (chrisp1992)

We have been excluded and we have filed a law suit.

Photo via @GovGaryJohnson/Twitter

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*First Published: Sep 26, 2012, 3:05 pm CDT