Will Young People Choose Johnson Over Paul?

Will Young People Choose Johnson Over Paul?
Posted by J.H. Huebert on April 27, 2011 10:12 AM

On the afternoon of April 26, Ron Paul announced he was running for president. On the morning of April 27, the Cato Institute's David Boaz has started campaigning against him and in favor of former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson. He writes:

Paul may have to split the libertarian Republican vote with former two-term governor Gary Johnson. Johnson also was "a Tea Partier when tea-partying wasn't cool," according to the Capitol Report of New Mexico. He vetoed 750 bills in eight years, not counting line-item vetoes. And since today's libertarian moment goes beyond spending and health care to include rising support for gay marriage and marijuana legalization, Johnson might be better positioned to ride that wave and attract younger and independent voters.

I suspect most young people care a bit more about their economic future and about the slaughter going on in the wars than they do about gay marriage, which isn't an issue the president can do much about anyway. And of course Ron Paul is more supportive of drug legalization than Johnson, as he explains in his great new book.

By the way, if Cato is going to stump for Johnson, repeating his campaign talking points about those vetoes and all, is it going to give up its 501(c)(3) status as LRC has?