I took the “scientific* survey” at the Reason web site and it matched me up with Gary Johnson as the GOP candidate who most closely matched my interests:
Aliases: Gov. Johnson, Iron Man, that libertarianish guy who’s not Ron Paul
Experience: Johnson founded his construction company Big-J Enterprises in 1976 and ran it for nearly two decades before becoming the Republican governor of the overwhelmingly Democratic state of New Mexico in 1995. Big-J, which Johnson sold in 1999, remains a leading construction firm in the Land of Enchantment. Johnson was re-elected governor in 1999, his tenure marked by a record number of vetoes, a winning struggle against tax increases, and prosperity in the state.
Hangups: low name recognition, severe soundbite challenges, Ron Paul’s prior claim on the uncoveted “mild-mannered libertarian” position
Spending/size of government/entitlement reform: Along with Ron Paul, Johnson is part of a fairly recent phenomenon: Republican candidates who take their small-government rhetoric seriously. In the New Mexico statehouse, he vetoed 750 bills, fired 1,200 state employees and left the state with a billion-dollar budget surplus. His presidential platform includes cutting Medicare and Medicaid by 43 percent and turning them into block grant programs. His budget cutting plans extend even to the bipartisan sacred cow of defense, which would also come in for a 43 percent cut. Tells ConcordPatch, “I believe that less government is the best government.”
Rick Perry. Which, it transpires, is my actual preference.
Comment by Flea — November 4, 2011 @ 16:58
That’s good to hear . . . that Reason didn’t try the CBC political preference hack (where just about any answer put you in the Liberal camp).
Perry doesn’t strike me as being the right answer for our American friends in their next election, but there are few in the GOP race who wouldn’t be an improvement over the incumbent (Bachmann and Romney, for different reasons, being the obvious exceptions).
Comment by Nicholas — November 4, 2011 @ 17:11