Stephen W. Terrell's (MUSIC) Web Log: ROUNDHOUSE ROUND-UP: GARY J. and RON P.
Democrat Bill Richardson isn’t the only New Mexico governor to speak at a national political convention in recent days. His predecessor, Gary Johnson, this week was in Minnesota — not at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, but at former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul’s miniconvention nearby in Minneapolis.
Johnson spoke before some 13,000 attending the Paul campaign’s Rally for the Republic on Tuesday.
In his speech, Johnson said, he talked about his efforts to reform anti-drug laws — a position that cost him the support of many state Republicans.
The night before the rally, Johnson said, he got to spend about 45 minutes talking to Paul.
Despite his loyal following, Paul, who once ran as the Libertarian Party candidate for president, says he won’t run as a third party candidate this year.
So where does that leave Johnson?
The most recent GOP governor of New Mexico said he’s not backing John McCain for president. “My problem with McCain is the war and his foreign policy,” Johnson said. Like Paul, he believes having American troops in Iraq and many other countries has made the U.S. a target of terrorism.
And Johnson definitely isn’t backing the Democratic ticket, though Johnson predicted Barack Obama will be the next president.
She’s everywhere: U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque might have lost the Republican U.S. Senate primary to U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs in June, but it seems her name is popping up everywhere lately on the national campaign trail.
Wilson has been active this week at the GOP convention in St. Paul. On Wednesday, she conducted a “reporter roundtable.” She was part of a group of prominent Republican women, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas, and former Hewlett Packard chief executive officer Carly Fiorina, who were lined up to do television and radio interviews to demand better treatment for vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family.
So what does she have planned for January and afterward? Are these appearances indicative about a possible place for Wilson in a McCain administration?
>Joe Monahan said in an interview Wednesday.
Among the possible positions is secretary of the Air Force (Wilson is an Air Force vet) or a position with a foreign-policy think tank. “You can’t rule out governor in 2010,” the Republican source said.
>a new SurveyUSA poll of 631 likely voters in the 1st Congressional District, 40 percent said they have a favorable opinion of Wilson, while 45 percent had an unfavorable view.
The same poll showed Obama leading McCain in the district, which mainly consists of Albuquerque, by a 55 percent to 41 percent margin. The poll, sponsored by the Washington, D.C., publication Roll Call, did not talk to voters in other parts of the state.
In the 1st District Congressional race, Democrat Martin Heinrich was leading Republican Darren White 51 percent to 46 percent. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.