Former New Mexico Governor and Libertarian representative Gary Johnson answers questions from the public during the “Our America Initiative” rally on Wednesday night in the Education Auditorium.
Gary Johnson had never been involved in politics prior to being elected governor of New Mexico.
He started out as an entrepreneur and ended up selling his business that came to employ over 1,000 people before running for office.
He ran for governor of New Mexico, a state that usually votes Democrat, on the Republican ticket and won two to one, he said. However, when he ran for president in the 2012 election he ran as a Libertarian candidate.
Since the election, Johnson has taken a step back from politics and mostly spent time with his family, but most recently he has been travelling with the Live Free tour as part of the Our America Initiative.
“We look to enlighten the population about civil liberties, free enterprise, limited government, and traditional American values,” according to the mission statement of the Our America Initiative with its tagline reading “The United, United States of America.”
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. We should be united, but we’re not,” Johnson said. “Fear divides us and people create fear to get elected. I am just disgusted with politics.”
The Our America Initiative focuses on more liberty with fewer restrictions from the government, which led Johnson to certain issues he feels should have fewer regulations, including drug use.
“Ninety percent of drug use is prohibition-related,” Johnson said.
During his speech, he used Zurich, Switzerland, as an example of where the police station gives out samples of heroin with clean needles for people to use. Disease and crime allegedly went down after this program was implemented, according to Johnson.
Johnson went on to criticize the military’s use of drones.
“Not everyone targeted is guilty. Even if they are, it’s not just the people who we are targeting that are getting hit,” Johnson said.
He also shared his belief on the issue of guns control, saying that citizens should still be allowed to have and carry them, as long as proper background checks are implemented.
“As a result of Aurora, Colo. I made a promise to get my concealed weapons permit in New Mexico. Do you think 9/11 would have happened if people on the planes were carrying guns?” Johnson said. “This is a really difficult issue. But I think if you outlaw guns, outlaws are going to get guns.”
Overall, Johnson said he was disappointed with the state of the United States and its policies.
“Obama’s been a real disappointment. People voted for Obama over Romney out of fear for the Republican social agenda,” he said.
Though Johnson thinks the state of the U.S. needs a drastic change, he said he will most likely not run for president again in 2016 citing a low interest in his efforts. He became increasingly disparaged when he noticed a low attendance at UW, as it had the lowest attendance of the eight universities he has spoken at.
“There seems to be no interest in what I am doing. I thought I was the most qualified for the job of president and as it turned out, 95 percent of what I was doing was a waste of time,” Johnson said. “But there still needs to be a spokesperson for these issues.”
