Romney, McCain, Bush, other major Republicans Set to Endorse Libertarian Gary Johnson for President

Mitt Romney, George Bush 41 and George Bush 43, as well as other mainstream Republican party figures, are set to endorse Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson next week, say sources within the "Never Trump" movement and other disaffected Republicans.

Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico, is known for having balanced the budget during his 8 year tenure. The Libertarian's Vice presidential running mate is also a former Republican governor, William Weld of Massachusetts. No one within the Republican party is especially happy having to endorse businessman Donald Trump. Even Trump supporters such as Newt Gingrich have recently called for an "intervention" or reset of the floundering Trump campaign.

Meanwhile, Trump himself repeatedly refused to endorse fellow Republicans such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. John McCain, and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte; dismaying Trump's last major ally within the Party, Reince Priebus. Priebus finally got the Donald to endorse Ryan, McCain and Ayotte on Friday, but the damage to party unity is done. http://www.smobserved.com/story/2016/08/06/news/romney-mccain-bush-other-major-republicans-will-endorse-libertarian-gary-johnson/1713.html

So the move is neither far-fetched, nor unexpected. It is also a backdoor to having a Republican ticket consisting of major, experienced party figures, on the ballot in all 50 states. Both Weld and Johnson were Republicans when they were governors of their respective states.

Johnson has polled around 10% in recent national polls, against Clinton, Trump, and the Green Party's candidate Jill Stein. Johnson has described Trump as "crazy," "racist," and "a wimp." Weld has said that Trump should look into "another occupation--really anything other than President of the United States."

Newsweek says that the Libertarians "charm" could swing the election. http://www.newsweek.com/charm-libertarians-johnson-weld-presidential-debates-487371

Major liberty Caucus and never trump republican leaders are reportedly supporting and endorsing Johnson and Weld for president. https://alibertarianfuture.com/2016-election/endorsements/rlc-nevertrump-leaders-found-republicans-johnsonweld-superpac/

Bush 43 and Romney 2008 veteran Dan Senor said he will endorse the Libertarians "Reluctantly. He also called for Johnson to appear on the debate stage with Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Senor said Trump lacks the personal integrity to be president.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/08/05/anti-trump_gop_strategist_dan_senor_pushes_for_gary_johnson_to_appear_on_debate_stage.html

"There has been a striking consistency to Donald Trump's behavior over the last year and even before that," Senor observed Friday morning on MSNBC. "The birther attacks against Barack Obama. At any time anybody following this closely can they honestly believe that Donald Trump has the temperament or values or the character or the integrity to be president of the United States? No."

Senor said Libertarian party nominee Gary Johnson is "missing an opportunity to reach out to conservative voters." Johnson ran a pot farm ten years ago, and admits to consuming cannabis edibles recently; which fact has been a small problem for him with certain segments of the voting population. They refer to him as "Puff the Magic Dragon."

"I like Gary Johnson," Senor said. "I don't like the things he's been saying, particularly the last few days, but he and [William] Weld are missing an opportunity to reach out to conservative voters. I think if they changed their focus there is a lot of conservative voters they could pick up."

Reportedly 13% of US voters say they would rather have a large meteorite hit the earth then have either trump or Clinton as president. And former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has said that he will support the libertarian candidates over Trump or Clinton.

Face it, Dems: Bill and Hillary Clinton carry more baggage than Air Force One. Don't deny it; I'm old enough to remember the 1990's. As for Mr. Trump; various psychologists have theorized that he is either a narcissistic sociopath or a megalomaniac with sociopathic tendencies. See for example http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/ Take your pick.

As voters discover they have a third party choice, increasingly they are just saying "no."

Gary Earl Johnson, 63, is a businessman, politician and the Libertarian Party nominee for President of the United States in the 2016 election. He served as the 29th Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.

Johnson announced his candidacy for president on April 21, 2011, as a Republican, on a libertarian platform emphasizing the United States public debt and a balanced budget through a 43% reduction of all federal government spending, protection of civil liberties, an immediate end to the War in Afghanistan and his advocacy of the FairTax.

On December 28, 2011, after being excluded from the majority of the Republican Party's presidential debates and failing to gain traction while campaigning for the New Hampshire primary, he withdrew his candidacy for the Republican nomination and announced that he would continue his presidential campaign as a candidate for the nomination of the Libertarian Party. He won the Libertarian Party nomination on May 5, 2012. His chosen running mate Judge James P. Gray of California won the vice-presidential nomination. The Johnson/Gray ticket received 0.99% of the popular vote, amounting to 1.27 million votes, more than all other minor candidates combined. It was the best showing in the Libertarian Party's history by vote count.

On January 6, 2016, Johnson announced his candidacy for the Libertarian nomination once again in 2016, and in May he selected former Republican Governor of Massachusetts William Weld as his running mate. On May 29, 2016, Johnson won the Libertarian nomination on the second ballot with 55.8% of the delegates.