The first words out of Gary Johnson's mouth were, “Aleppo was a mistake.” The crowd was surprised. It isn’t often that presidential candidates own up to their mistakes. Can you recall a time when a presidential candidate openly said the words, "I will mess up again,” in front of a crowd of voters?
Purdue University President Mitch Daniels invited all of the presidential candidates to come speak at Purdue, but only Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson responded to the invitation. On September 13, voters from across the midwest came to Purdue University and packed the recreational sports center.
I never imagined that, as a 20-year-old college student from the middle-of-nowhere Illinois, I would get the chance to meet a presidential candidate. On top of that, I never dreamed I would actually get to have dinner with one.
But here I am, still fangirling over a night that I will remember for years to come. To me, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson has been somewhat of a celebrity. I’ve followed the Libertarian Town Halls and watched him fumble through the Aleppo incident. I’m not some crazy-intelligent political science student. I’m just a citizen who is frustrated with the two-party system and our current major candidate choices for president. And when I stumbled upon Gary Johnson as an option, I instantly knew I aligned with his views.
Johnson’s honesty and transparency are what makes him uniquely different. During the event, he shared, “I find it easier to just be honest. Then I don’t have to remember things.”
He candidly answered questions with honest, no-nonsense answers. Johnson demonstrated his competency in the Middle Eastern conflict and answered other questions about marijuana legalization, economic plans, military spending, and North Korea.
The night ended with praise from President Daniels.
“Intelligent, candid, politically risky, unpredictable, answers all apparently grounded in a consistent philosophy... What are you doing in this election?” Daniels asked.
The crowd cheered louder than ever and gave Johnson a loud send-off from the stage, complete with chants of “Let Gary debate!”
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The highlight of my night was yet to come, though.
President Daniels invited Johnson to complete the evening with a dinner at the presidential estate. Coincidentally, I ended up at the table with Johnson, Daniels, and a few other students.
I thought when I met Johnson, I would be shaking with fear. I mean, I’ve watched the guy on the town hall events and appear on television for months now. But, meeting him was strikingly normal. It didn’t feel like I was meeting one of my biggest role models because he’s such a normal guy. When I introduced myself as the president of Purdue’s Students for Johnson chapter, he gave me a genuine “Thank you,” and offered a hug.
For a time, the politician in Johnson was turned off for dinner. We talked about who Johnson is, as a person. He discussed his college days and how he discovered Libertarianism. He talked about his New Mexico home and when asked what he would do if he didn’t get to be president, he responded, “I’ll ski more than 100 days this year.”
Johnson assured us that no matter what the impact of the election was, he would stay busy. His goal for next summer is to bike on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Trip. The trip is a 2,768-mile bike trek from Canada to New Mexico and will take several weeks. He said that because of the route, there's not a hotel he can stay in every single night. He's not doing this trip to win, though. He said he plans on finishing in double the time of the top finishers and made a joke about his age.
He did, of course, let his inner politician show at dinner, too. You may be surprised to hear that Johnson was not always a Libertarian. I knew he had been a Republican governor, but what I didn't know was that he was also a registered Democrat in college. He talked openly about his switch to the Libertarian Party, saying that when he was in college, he was handed a booklet about Libertarianism and since then, he self-identified as a small-l libertarian. He believed in the platform of being socially liberal and fiscally conservative.
It wasn't until 2012 that he became a registered Libertarian, and when he did, he said it felt like an anvil was lifted off of his shoulders because he no longer had to support policies and views that he didn't agree with. He explained that he can see definitely see both sides, but his party is prepared to make the change America needs -- a new direction.
When he was governor of New Mexico, Johnson had an "Open Door After Four" policy, where he invited citizens to come in and talk about the issues that are pressing to them and he would sit and talk with them. He referenced that what happened in Flint,
Johnson also said he has several political role-models. Two of those that he looks up to are both Abraham Lincoln and his vice-presidential choice, Bill Weld. Abe Lincoln was not a major party candidate and was also insistent on knowing the pressing issues of the people he was leading. He looked up to Bill Weld for his stances on being a Republican leader in pro-choice and LGBTQ rights, from the 1990s.
I asked Johnson what his biggest accomplishment is and he said that he couldn’t pick just one because life has gone how he could have wanted it. He noted that being a presidential candidate is really right where he wants to be right now.
It’s evident that Johnson lives out his campaign slogan when he says, “Let’s make our best America yet."
