Libertarian Gary Johnson picks former Mass. governor for VP

[Free Vulcan]

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has chosen former Massachusetts governor William Weld as his running mate, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Johnson, former governor or New Mexico, told the AP that Weld would make the announcement of his vice presidential candidacy Thursday.

"We got together and shook hands on it," Johnson told the AP in an interview in Salt Lake City.

The two met in Las Vegas over the weekend.

"It brings an enormous amount of credibility to what it is I'm doing. I'm unbelievably flattered by this and humbled."

Johnson garnered 1 percent of the vote in the 2012 presidential election but is attempting to be a third-party alternative to presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

He said that Weld could be a "huge influence when it comes to fundraising."

"That was something that he in fact volunteered — that he enjoys doing it," he said...

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/280456-gary-johnson-picks-running-mate

[montanajoe]

Interesting pick. Might pull in a few #NeverTrump and #NeverHilliary voters for the Libertarians.

[A-Lert]

http://www.necn.com/news/new-england/Former-Massachusetts-Gov-William-Weld-Explains-Endorsement-of-John-Kasich-370047891.html

Republican presidential candidate John Kasich is putting a lot of effort into Massachusetts before Super Tuesday, where he picked up a big endorsement from former Gov. William Weld. (Published Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016)

[kidd]

Weld has fiscally conservative record, but he is a gun grabbing, VERY pro-abort liberal. He also wants legalization of illegal aliens and an expansion of H-1B visas.

He is a bad choice if the goal was to attract those republicans that don't like Trump because Trump isn't conservative enough.
I guess if Sanders beats Clinton, disaffected Clinton supporters who don't want to vote for a self-proclaimed Socialist (and don't think that Clinton is a Socialist) might like Weld.

http://www.ontheissues.org/Governor/Bill_Weld_Abortion.htm

[jmyrlefuller]

At the very least it looks like they're making an effort to put up a serious candidacy.

[mountaineer]

He is a bad choice if the goal was to attract those republicans that don't like Trump because Trump isn't conservative enough.

Not too many days ago, there was a thread here about Johnson's positions on the issues and how they might turn off looking for someone more conservative than Trump. Doesn't look like Weld provides much balance.

[ScottinVA]

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has chosen former Massachusetts governor William Weld as his running mate, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Johnson, former governor or New Mexico, told the AP that Weld would make the announcement of his vice presidential candidacy Thursday.

"We got together and shook hands on it," Johnson told the AP in an interview in Salt Lake City.

For those considering Johnson as an alternative, please keep in mind Weld was an ardent backer of Obama in 2008. 

[Timber Rattler]

Yeah, the Libertarian Party picking Weld as its VP candidate is a lot like the Democrat Party picking Mike Lee as its VP candidate.

[Jazzhead]

At the very least it looks like they're making an effort to put up a serious candidacy.

Yes, they are.  I am thinking seriously of voting Libertarian this year.   I think a lot of folks will.   I'd submit that neither major party really sits where the majority of Americans are - fiscally conservative and socially moderate. 

 

I want the government out of your pocketbook and your bedroom.

  - Gov. Weld

[RetBobbyMI]

Another looser. Rules him out as an alt to Trump. Guess I'll go with Constitution Party's Darrell Castle.

[Jazzhead]

William Weld succeeded another Massachusetts governor that some here may remember - Michael "Looks good in a tank" Dukakis 

During the economic boom of the mid-1980s, as the economy surged, so did tax revenues--and state spending. By the time the downturn came in 1987, deficit spending reached unprecedented levels.

The new governor's first priority was to stop the trauma, and he did so. He forced the 1991 budget he'd inherited from Dukakis into balance, in part by requiring state workers to take unpaid "furloughs," in part by cutting state aid to cities and towns--but mostly by landing an unexpected windfall: a $531 million federal reimbursement for Medicaid expenses. However it was done, it was done: the 1991 fiscal year ended in the black. For fiscal 1992, Weld actually budgeted less money than the year before.

In July 1992, Weld's first full budget cycle came to an end. Total spending had indeed decreased from 1991. Not by much--only 1.7% (about $200 million)--but it was the clearest sign imaginable that the budget meltdown had been confronted and reversed.

 Source: Jeff Jacoby in City Journal , Jan 1, 1996