About one year ago, I took an online quiz put together by the folks at Reason and discovered that Ron Paul was closest to my views.
Not that I was terribly surprised, though I confess that I don’t remember if Gary Johnson was part of the quiz. And, if so, whether there were any differences between him and Ron Paul.
Speaking of Gary Johnson, I just took a quiz at the ISideWith website and it tells me that Gary Johnson shares 97 percent of my views.
That’s not a big shock, but I was surprised that the poll says I’m more Republican than Libertarian.
Methinks the people who put together the poll must be high on crystal meth. Yes, I’m probably a bit more conservative than the average libertarian on issues like terrorism and immigration, but I’m a far, far stronger advocate of limited government than the average GOPer.
But I gather the poll probably matches your views with the rhetoric of various candidates and parties, not their actual records.
And the gap between Republican rhetoric and Republican performance probably explains why just about every prominent libertarian is ignoring the GOP and voting for Gary Johnson, according to this survey by Reason. Unless, of course, they think voting is a waste of time.
P.S. In the for-what-it’s-worth department, the ISideWith people report that Gary Johnson’s views attract majority or plurality support from voters in South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada.
P.P.S. Mitt Romney’s views don’t have majority support in any state.
P.P.P.S. Since the United States is supposed to be a constitutional republic rather than a majoritarian democracy, I don’t like any group of voters having the power to muck up my life.
International Liberty 
[…] Let’s close by looking at my score compared to various famous people. I’m closest to Gary Johnson, which strikes me as a reasonable result. […]
I was trying to remember the name of the 2012 Presidential poll that determined that if people voted for the candidate they agreed most with on The Issues, Libertarian and 2-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson would have won in a landslide over Barack Obama, with Mitt Romney barely registering a victory in a single state, if any.
The poll was a website called ISideWith. So much for Americans voting their conscience. Instead they are herded like the sheep they are over a cliff by our broken two-party system.
I had to scroll through pages and pages of Yahoo (powered by Google) search engine results to find this blog post, and now I’m going to follow this blog.
Of course, I was one of the 1%, the 1.3 million people who voted for my friends Gary Johnson and Judge Jim Gray for President and Vice President in 2012.
I am encouraging Gary to run in 2016 on the Libertarian ticket again, but he needs to win a number of court cases to get into the polls and debates. He also needs to raise $100M, and isn’t making much progress.
Reblogged this on robertdgriffis and commented:
I was trying to remember the name of the 2012 Presidential poll that determined that if people voted for the candidate they agreed most with on The Issues, Libertarian and 2-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson would have won in a landslide over Barack Obama, with Mitt Romney barely registering a victory in a single state, if any.
The poll was a website called ISideWith.
So much for Americans voting their conscience. Instead they are herded like the sheep they are over a cliff by our broken two-party system.
[…] You could take an online test and see which candidate matches your views. […]
A vote for anyone but Romney is a vote for bigger government. A vote for anyone but Romney increases the chance that Obama will remain president. You have a choice. You can live to fight another day, or you can speed up the rate at which our liberties are lost. You can work to slow and reverse the trajectory toward widespread suffering, or you can give up the fight and welcome the coming catastrophe.
You are not an island. You live in a country with hundreds of millions of other people, some smart, some not so smart. Ours is a representative government. The people it represents have spoken and said you have a choice of one of two people, Romney or Obama. You know that these people have chosen not to vote for your preferred choice, so they’ve told you they are not completely on your side, if on your side at all. Call these people stupid or wrong all you want. It does not change the fact that you will live under one of the two potential presidents they have chosen.
You will live under one of two potential presidents, Romney or Obama. You cannot live under any president other than one of these two. The American public has spoken and you have failed to convince them otherwise. All you can do is increase or decrease the chances that Obama will remain in office. Which is it? Will you increase or decrease Obama’s chances? Will you increase or decrease the chances that you and your children will know suffering in the future?
Anyone who values their freedom and still votes for Romney in any “safe” state (Republican or Democrat) has entered into a delusional fantasy. It’s one thing to vote to dismiss Obama in a battleground state, but insane to do so otherwise. This man is no friend to liberty or the constitution.
You want an actual smaller government choice next time? Better vote for Johnson or you won’t get one. In essence, a vote for Johnson is a vote for better choices.
Stop letting the elite politicians and “fixers” dictate what you can choose.
I prefer Gary Johnson, but will vote for Romney as a much more realistic alternative. By the way, you should think about spending the weekend in Jacksonville. Go Gators!
Continuing to vote for someone you don’t like just to keep someone else you like even less from getting elected is what got us into this mess in the first place. When we are offered a chance to make a real change, we don’t take it because a majority of us think that candidate doesn’t stand a chance to win. Maybe if that same majority voted for him instead of conceding the election to one of the “don’t likes” we could actually make some real progress for a change.
Mitt may not be the perfect candidate but he is not a politico. Rather, he is an accomplished businessman, a problem solver, and a decent, upstanding individual with christian values. Gary Johnson is a good man and may be your first choice but he doesn’t stand a chance of a snowball in hades of being elected. Swallow your libertarian pride and vote to oust the socialist currently residing in the WH or you may never again have the opportunity.
If we mess around and re elect Obama WE ALL LOSE!!!!!!
[…] via According to an Online Survey, Gary Johnson Is the Presidential Candidate Closest to My Views « Int…. […]
There is no way on God’s green earth that I could even hold my nose and vote for a statist commie fascist warmonger, Republican or Democrat. A vote for Mittens is like a vote for Bush, the guy who gave us No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D and a massive growth in government spending and power.
If Americans has the testicular fortitude to vote for what is right for America, heck, they just might get real change! I’m voting my conscious. Pox on the 2 corrupt parties who rule the District of Crime.
I prefer Gary Johnson as my candidate over Romney or Obama. That being said, a vote for Gary Johnson helps keep Obama in office. Hey, if you live in a solid red state or blue state and just want to make a statement, no problem! But in close states, we need every non-Obama vote going directly to Romney to secure a win.
GJ has no chance of winning. It’s sad but we all need to use a little logic and pick the lesser of the two evils that are likely to actually win. This isn’t an issue of principle. It’s about using some basic logic and reason. I think just about every Libertarian would agree that Obama is worse than Romney; although Romney does suck.
Gee Dan, just when I was about to write-you off as a pathetic GOP hack, statist and neocon, you gush forth with something sane. I abandoned the GOP in 2006, I have never voted for a Dem in my entire life and I will be voting for Gary Johnson.
Pretty sure I’d get similar results as you if I took that quiz. Problem is, unfortunately, Gary Johnson has no chance whatsoever of being elected, and I believe all he’ll be doing is help Obama get a second term.
An online poll here in the great state of Ohio also shows of the other candidates listed, Johnson has a chance of garnering 10 to 11% of the votes because he is on our ticket.