A talk with a potential presidential candidate

As we all learned April 21 former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson was going to take a whack at getting into the little White House on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The former two-term New Mexico governor, who was serving as the Honorary Chairman of the Our America Initiative told freelance reporter Marc Schoder in February, which he had no intentions at the White House.

“Well, as part of my 501 c 4, which is Our America’s Initiative, I can’t talk about running for office, “said the former governor.

Johnson added that as a part of his legal status with the organization, He was at that time able to talk about the issues of the day and raise money; but not talk about running for political office.

“I’m sorry about the cop-out, but that is just my legal status and I don’t want to get into trouble,” he said.

The current presidential candidate has been an outspoken advocate for government that was efficient, lower taxes and several other topics.

When I conducted the interview in February, did I think he was going to make a run; absolutely.

In the almost one-half hour interview, we spoke on a wide variety of topics ranging from his seven principals of government to the nickname that he received according to him after he left office.

The veto-vato as he became affectionately known to most in government and New Mexicans vetoed over 750 bills which according to Johnson’s biography on his website http://www.garyjohnson2012.com was equal to all of the combined vetoes of all of the other 49 governor’s.

During the conversation with the former New Mexico governor, he chuckled at recalling that nickname.

Johnson, who is an avid skier, was on his way back to New Mexico from the Carolinas.

On May 2, via his Facebook page; when most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden was caught and killed by Navy Seals, Johnson issued a statement commending the military forces and the intelligence community in obtaining a measure of justice for all those who lost loved ones on 9/11 and for the nation as a whole.

“Terrorism did not die yesterday, but it suffered a serious blow – and a strong message was sent,” he said.