Gary Johnson or Ron Paul for President 2012?

The GOP Primary appears to have two liberty-minded candidates to choose from in Election 2012. And yes, both of these candidates would be great choices for President. But with two liberty-minded candidates in the field, one must ask which is the better choice.

Now, I can guess that many will say there is no other choice than Ron Paul. I get that a lot, mostly from uninformed voters with blinders on. And yes, that was true in the Election 2008; if you wanted a candidate that cared about freedom in America, you wanted Ron Paul.

That viewpoint is totally understandable given that according to Gallup's March poll, only 11% of Republicans recognize Gary Johnson's name while 76% recognize Ron Paul's name.

But the question of who is the better choice for President cannot solely rest on name recognition. Positions on the issues must be taken into high regard, as well as political viability. As a Libertarian myself, I tend to vote for the most liberty-minded candidate on both economic and social issues.

The following are the key differences I see in these two candidates.

Kelo v. City of New London

One of the first things that comes to mind about Ron Paul is his support of the Supreme Court's erroneous decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005). In Kelo, the SCOTUS ruled that municipalities have the right under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to seize private property under eminent domain for the purpose of transferring that property to another private entity that the municipal government believes will provide stronger tax revenue. In other words, if a developer wants to build a shopping mall in a certain spot, and your house is there, your city can use eminent domain to transfer your property to the new developer because he'll generate higher property, sales, and possibly income tax revenue while you only generate a small level of property tax revenue from your home.

That is not a liberty-minded position at all.

To be fair, Ron Paul's argument for his position is that the Fifth Amendment does not apply against the several States through the Fourteenth Amendment. Furthermore, he believes that the incorporation doctrine should be avoided at all costs — a position that relegates the Constitution to a position where it cannot offer protection of natural rights to citizens whose States say otherwise. While that is a great hardline 10th Amendment position, it denies citizens a basic tool of fighting for liberty. Furthermore, he has supported legislation prohibiting federal courts from hearing cases on the basis of incorporation.

Immigration

When it comes to immigration, I believe that Gary Johnson takes the most balanced stance on the issue. Gary Johnson recognizes that legal immigration is an important part of the American economy and supports streamlining the process for work visas while increasing border control and punishing those who circumvent the process.

On the other hand, Ron Paul takes the nativist approach. Ron Paul believes that immigration should be reduced even if that immigration is legal. In other words, Ron Paul believes that people should not be free to choose where they live.

Immigration policies which make it easier to become a legal immigrant are much more supportive of liberty than policies designed to limit the ability of people to immigrate.

School Choice

Gary Johnson believes that giving vouchers to all students for parents to choose where to send their child for school is the best way to let parents decide where and how their child is educated. This would force the schools to compete for students for increased funding, but not necessarily reduce their funding per student.

However, Ron Paul believes that vouchers are not a solution for school choice at the federal level. While I certainly understand his concerns, I believe that as long as tax dollars at any level are going toward education, parents should be able to choose how to use at least a portion of those dollars for their child's education.

Gay Marriage

Gay marriage is another position where I believe that Gary Johnson is much more liberty-minded that Ron Paul. Gary Johnson believes that it is not the place of government to impose values upon marriage and that religious organizations are free to follow their beliefs. This is a position that advocated both freedom of association and religious freedom.

Ron Paul has called the federal recognition of gay marriage as "an act of social engineering profoundly hostile to liberty." Furthermore, he has also come out against the SCOTUS ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), which found that state laws against private consensual acts of sodomy unconstitutional. (He also said that there is no right to privacy in the Constitution, which shows a disregard for the natural right of privacy as protected by the First, Fourth, and Ninth Amendments.)

Abortion

The final issue I would like to bring up is abortion. I saved this for last so that the majority of those who see the "a" word and feel an inclination to post a poorly thought out, irrational comment wouldn't feel the urge until a little later in the post.

Abortion tends to bring out many single-issue voters who may or may not fully understand their single issue. Both sides have a tendency to make irrational arguments, although some do argue their side well.

Gary Johnson believes that a woman has the right to make her own decisions until viability of the fetus. That is, the choice for an abortion should be available prior to approximately the third trimester. While there is no concrete point of viability, 20-35% of babies born at 23 weeks survive, 50% survive at 24-25 weeks, and more than 90% survive at 26 weeks, so that makes viability at approximately 24-26 weeks depending on the developmental condition of the fetus at that time. I firmly agree with Gary Johnson's position, including prohibiting the use of federal funds for abortions.

Ron Paul, on the other hand, believes that abortions should never take place. However, Ron Paul also believes (and rightly so) that the federal government does not have the Constitutional authority to regulate abortion. But his record here is rather shaky, as he has also supported legislation to prohibit a specific form of abortion.

Political Viability

As I said earlier, Ron Paul has the advantage with respect to name recognition. And as is evident from the success of various "moneybombs", he also is great at raising much needed campaign funds. But that's where the advantages for Ron Paul stop.

Even though Lew Rockwell allegedly ghostwrote the majority of the Ron Paul newsletters, many people still associate him with the racially-charged and homophobic rhetoric that was appearing under his name throughout the late 80's and early 90's. (And if it wasn't Lew, then was it Ron? Both deny it.) That proved to be a great target for the media in 2008, and it most definitely would be used heavily in 2012 against Ron Paul.

Ron Paul also has a history of being supported by the likes of StormFront, the "9/11 was an inside job" crowd, secessionists, et al. Now, I'm 98% sure he doesn't agree with those supporters, but he also refused in the 2008 campaign to issue statements that while he welcomes their support, he did not solicit such support nor did he subscribe to their views. What you have now in Ron Paul is an easy target for the media with regard to his supporters that are way out there beyond the fringe.

The closest issue you have like that with Gary Johnson is that he smoked weed for pain management for injuries sustained in a paragliding accident rather than highly addictive pain killers.

While Ron Paul has over three decades of experience in Congress (mostly as a minor figure), Gary Johnson has experience as an executive in both business and government. After Gary Johnson built his construction business from a handy man job to one of the largest firms in New Mexico, he went on to become Governor of the State of New Mexico. And as Governor, he showed that he was willing to play hardball with the legislature and vetoed more bills than all other governors in the country combined. He has the track record to show Congress that he means business.

I think it's great that we have two liberty-minded candidates in the Republican primary that can help get more air time for libertarianism. But when it comes down to it, I believe that Gary Johnson is the most liberty-minded candidate in the Republican field.

And considering that he is also more politically viable than Ron Paul, perhaps Gary Johnson is the best shot we have at restoring liberty in America.