Johnson also used his line-item-veto power thousands of times. He credits his heavy veto pen for eliminating New Mexico's budget deficit and cutting the growth rate of New Mexico's government in half." According to the Myrtle Beach Sun News, Johnson "said his numerous vetoes, only two of which were overridden, stemmed from his philosophy of looking at all things for their cost–benefit ratio and his axe fell on Republicans as well as Democrats." While in office, Johnson was criticized for opposing funding for an independent study of private prisons after a series of riots and killings at the facilities. Martin Chavez, his opponent in the 1998 New Mexico gubernatorial race, criticized Johnson for his frequent vetoing of programs, suggesting that it resulted in New Mexico's low economic and social standing nationally. Journalist Mark Ames described Johnson as "a hard-core conservative" who "ruled the state like a right-wing authoritarian" and only embraced marijuana legalization in his second term for populist gain. This was mainly in reference to a commercial from Johnson's reelection campaign featuring Johnson saying that a felon in New Mexico would serve "every lousy second" of their prison sentence. Johnson insisted, however, that the commercial was directed at "the guy who's got his gun out" rather than nonviolent drug offenders. Post governorship Johnson was term limited and could not run for a third consecutive term as governor in 2002. In the 2008 presidential election campaign, Johnson endorsed Ron Paul for the Republican nomination, "because of his commitment to less government, greater liberty, and lasting prosperity for America." Johnson spoke at Paul's "Rally for the Republic" on September 2, 2008. Johnson serves on the Advisory Council of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a student nonprofit organization which advocates for drug policy reform. , he serves on the board of directors of Students For Liberty, a nonprofit libertarian organization. His first book, Seven Principles of Good Government, was published on August 1, 2012. 2012 presidential campaign Early campaign In 2009, Johnson began indicating interest in running for president in the 2012 election. In the April 20, 2009, edition of The American Conservative magazine, Bill Kauffman told readers to "keep an eye out" for a Johnson presidential campaign in 2012, reporting that Johnson had told him that "he was keeping his options open for 2012" and that "he may take a shot at the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 as an antiwar,