Heck ya it matters, he would have sucked a lot of good votes up from Ron Paul. I think Mitch was about the only candidate I would have been able to stomack, so with him out of the way.......WOOHOO Go RON PAUL
How would have Mitch Daniels detracted from the vote count of Ron Paul?
Is not Johnson is the most direct competition for the 1% of the vote that will go to Ron Paul?
No question that the GOP is not behind Ron Paul, but the reality is there are simply a lot of people who think Ron Paul is a kook and nutbag. Lots of people can get behind about 50% of what Ron Paul says, but simply can't get behind the other half of his libertarian message.I think Ron Pauls problem is the Republic party is not willing to back him, not we the people, but the party leaders
Mitch Daniels was actually electable.
Ron Paul is not electable.
Sarah Palin is not electable.
Michele Bachman is not electable.
Newt has already proved he is so smart he's an idiot and needs to bow out.
Mitt will keep trying, but we need to hope he makes no headway.
Herman Cain probably can't raise the money needed to get name recognition.
Governor Gary Johnson has many of the right positions but is totally unknown.
Rick Santorum may gain traction, has many of the right positions but is so pro-life he'll get sacrificed by the media.
Tim Palwenty may be our only hope (by default)? OMG! We are so screwed.
We are still waiting for the candidate that will win to enter the race. I'm glad Mitch decided not to run, because he wasn't that guy.
Rick Perry would be an outstanding candidate.
I believe Gary Johnson is probably better for America than Rick Perry, but Perry has a much better national profile with greater name recognition.
Perry would probably be good if he is willing to tackle the national debt.
Rick Perry may be a good candidate from OUR perspective. But he's the governor of Texas and that won't be a good thing for the next 20 years, no matter how awesome the individual is.
Gary Johnson has no profile. On paper he looks like a good candidate, up until you get to the whole drug thing. That's where he falls off the rails. No one's ever heard of him. He sounds a lot like Ron Paul (actually more articulate that Ron Paul, IMHO) but still seems to speak in elitist platitudes. Not entirely sold on him.
But the drug thing may play out a little better to the public because of his arguments that marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed in much the same way that Alcohol is legal, regulated and taxed. He does not say that hard drugs should be legalized in the same way.
Clearly Johnson comes across more mainstream than Ron Paul, but both share the same basic Libertarian viewpoints. Anyone who supports Paul should be able to easily support Johnson as the more electable, less kooky, candidate who actually has executive experience.
I think Johnson's downfall will come with the social conservatives as he supports early term abortions.
Bummer, I knew trampling over 4A would create a problem.