Late Returns: Gary Johnson Offers Contrasting Stance On Capital Punishment

Recent events have provided ample catalyst for a lengthy discussion on the death penalty tonight. And if it comes up, Alex Pareene notes that former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson -- who ends his lengthy exclusion from the debating field with tonight's appearance -- is primed to offer a different take than the rest of the field:

Johnson undertook a very public conversion on the subject while acting as governor of New Mexico. He initially sought to expand capital sentences to minors, while limiting appeals. By the end of his time in office, he'd reversed himself. He now opposes the death penalty completely:

Scott Holleran: You oppose the death penalty. Why?

Gary Johnson: As governor of New Mexico, I was a bit naïve and I did not think the government made mistakes with regard to the death penalty. I came to realize that they do. I don’t want to put one innocent person to death to punish 99 who are guilty.

Paul, it should be noted, opposes the death penalty, but sees it as a "state issue."

Read the whole thing. [War Room @ Salon]

* * * * *

Florida looks unlikely to indulge in any Arizona-style primary calendar shenanigans, as GOP officials in the state see their "fifth-place position" as affording the state the chance to be the one that determines the GOP nominee. (The emerging thought being that the prospects of a long and drawn-out nomination fight are dimming.) [The New Republic; The Plum Line]

In response to our piece downgrading the notion of a Sarah Palin presidential run to "sub-prime," an email tipster sends along this piece from Alaska Dispatch, which asserts that Todd Palin's decision to enter a snowmobile race makes it unlikely that Palin will run. Yes, this is apparently how major political figures make their decisions now. [Alaska Dispatch]

Mitt Romney is apparently going to associate himself with brands that help burnish the idea that he is not some rich, elitist, robot, so look for him to work in awkward plugs for your local burger joint whenever he comes to town. (He will probably start using a slap-chop now, also.) [The New York Times]

In the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race, Elizabeth Warren has a ways to go before she can prove that poll putting her ahead of Scott Brown bears out or reveals itself as an outlier. In more pressing polling matters, however, she is already crushing her ersatz competition in the Democratic primary, with a 46-point lead on her closest competitor, Alan Khazei. [Public Policy Polling]

 

 

Comments

[dreamymiss]

10:25 AM on 09/23/2011

MORE PLEASE! More Johnson and Paul...LESSSS (much much much less pleaaaase) of, well, if I had to pick replacements, please can we have less Perry and Bachmann?? Less crazy and corrupt, and more of thoughtful and thought provoking discussions! The discussions posted here are more than the usual "I hate Obama! I hate republicans!" comments I'm used to seeing. That should say a lot about Gary Johnson! Give that man more air time! Someone host a Gary/Ron debate! Dang! My head is about to explode with sound bites! It's like a car alarm that's gone off for too long...you start to tune it out.

http://spatialorientation.com/tag/gary-johnson/ for those who want more info on Gary. I really enjoyed reading through the interviews.

[lacrosselamore]

03:20 PM on 09/24/2011

I like him BUT, how do you replace the Federal Income tax with a Federal Sales Taxwith out pricing new buyers out of homes (20-30% added to the cost of a home purchase) and killing the auto industry by adding the same ammount to the cost of a new car?
A National Sales Tax is a profoundly stupid idea. Makes me wonder how many others he has about the economy.

[rebasfl]

08:25 AM on 09/23/2011

A principaled retort to Gov Johnson silly position would be that most or all death penalty inmates
are career criminals or likely have committed many crimes for which they've not been caught. I
and many others maintain there is no such thing as an 'innocent convicted felon' on death row.

[annica2]

11:50 AM on 09/23/2011

no such thing eh? are you a holocaust denier? if you trust government paper pushing that much, you're out of your mind.

[MoreFreedom]

08:36 AM on 09/24/2011

While I agree that "most or all death penalty inmates are career criminals" the record shows that government prosecutors have convicted innocent men and put them on death row. And there have been many cases of prosecutor misconduct, yet they are are immune from prosecution. You should read Radley Balko's articles from Reason. You will learn that our government is killing a lot of innocent people, and it's not just prosecutors, but many innocents are dying at the hands of SWAT teams and militarized police.

The point is that Johnson doesn't want the government killing innocent people, and while the vast majority on death row deserve it, not all do.

[luloops]

11:39 PM on 09/22/2011

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Johnson

[RealistBC]

10:41 PM on 09/22/2011

Johnson stands no chance unless he agrees with slaking the Tea Bagger thirst for blood.

[JFranco]

10:01 PM on 09/22/2011

So, in contrast, we have Rick Perry who actively believes in the death penalty. Now, Perry like to call himself a Christian but it's pretty clear he's a liar. Here's why I say that, there's this commandment "Thou shalt not kill." There aren't any contingencies or qualifiers that I can see in that. It's pretty clear. And it's pretty clear if you keep breaking one of these commandments then you really don't take it all that seriously.

[Rational Voice]

09:55 PM on 09/22/2011

Legalize and Regulate Marijuana in a Manner Similar to Alcohol. http://bit.ly/rv0LLL

[ozmas mirror]

09:45 PM on 09/22/2011

I like this guy. And I'm a liberal. I would love to see him win the nom.

[lacrosselamore]

03:30 PM on 09/24/2011

He wants to replace the FEderal Income Tax with a FEderal sales tax. Thinking of buying a car? Now think about paying 30% more for the same car. Now do that with a HOUSE.
I like a lot about this guy. He seems reasonable and some what sane. But he's a disaster on the economy. Not ready for prime time. But this is good practice, ,maybe he will try again in 4 years. I will be watching.

[ozmas mirror]

04:18 PM on 09/24/2011

Well, I didn't say I'd VOTE for him, I would just love to see him debating Obama. Then we could get off of talking about regulating people's genitals and start talking about how to get us out of the fix we are in.

[MMRDO]

09:02 PM on 09/22/2011

I like Governor Johnson a lot, I hope he does run. He takes an objective approach to things and if they don't work, he makes an effort to change them.

[lacrosselamore]

03:32 PM on 09/24/2011

Much of an improvement over the average Republican. HE should run this time, just to get the experience. Maybe in 4 years.

[rabiddog6708]

08:50 PM on 09/22/2011

Taking the life of someone is just as wrong when the state does it as opposed to when the individual person does it.

[Carl Caroli]

08:37 PM on 09/22/2011

"...I don’t want to put one innocent person to death to punish 99 who are guilty."
Wow, a repub with a conscience. That wont sit well with the base at all, especially the hang'em high baggers.

[UnRed]

08:32 PM on 09/22/2011

We need to end the death penalty in this country, but not at the expense of electing this clown.

[Mochilero]

08:28 PM on 09/22/2011

Gary Johnson is not a real Republican. He looks at all sides of an issue and thinks about his views.

[tbryant80]

08:18 PM on 09/22/2011

At least one candidate with common sense.

[Carl Caroli]

08:38 PM on 09/22/2011

He's toast.

[davis brant]

08:15 PM on 09/22/2011

i suffered through eight years of this guy. believe me, you don't want this egocentric person as your president.

[GoldwaterKid]

08:11 PM on 09/22/2011

Great to see that Gov Johnson now has the 1% needed in the polls to be able to join the debate.

His views as a GOP candidate are very important, because it is the feeling for many, many people who would call themselves 'fiscal conservatives'. It's our liberal social issue stand, that does not get enough from the press.