Jeb Bush to Endorse Gary Johnson Next Week?

[Fuzzy Says: "Abolish NPR!"]

A vote for Johnson is only a half vote against Trump, while a vote for Hillary is a full vote against Trump.

Bullsh**t.  A vote for Johnson is a vote for Johnson.  I probably won't vote for Johnson, but I certainly won't vote for Clinton or for Trump, and you may not count my opposition to Trump or to Clinton as half of anything.  It is full-on, raging opposition, just as those who will vote for Johnson fully oppose Trump and fully oppose Clinton.

Anyway, I don't care whether any of the Bushes endorses Johnson, but I'm glad to know that they're not supporting Trump.  Fully and completely.

Kinda surprised you aren't for Johnson. A pot-smoking, drug legalization favoring libertarian Republican seems like your type. ;-)

It is not a matter of who is whose type. The choice is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Nobody else has a chance.

Are you saying that, somehow, Clinton and Trump have accumulate so much of the vote that no one else can win?  The "it's a binary choice" Paul Ryan mantra is self-serving to the partisans of Hillary and the partisans of Trump, but it's not necessarily so. 

If people vote for Johnson/Weld in enough numbers, they will be elected. 

[Mr. Morden]

I'll still say that the biggest determining factor in how much of the vote Johnson gets is how much media attention he manages to get.  People will actually have to be aware of his existence in order for him to get votes.  So sure, getting an endorsement from someone like Bush helps on the margins simply because it makes the media more likely to cover him.  Not just a factor for people who like Bush, but for anyone who's going to see that additional increment of media coverage due to this.

But that assumes that this is actually true.  Why are people taking a tweet from Travis Akers seriously?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Relevant:

Politico: Gary Johnson Alludes to Jeb Support

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U.S. News: Jeb's Team Denies Rumors of Gary Johnson Endorsement

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[Bigby]

We should rename the LP at this point. The Paulites are gone, the loonies have been culled from actual influence, and establishment Republicans are reshaping the party as we populists take over the GOP. The Libertarians are no longer libertarian.

[IceSpear]

We should rename the LP at this point. The Paulites are gone, the loonies have been culled from actual influence, and establishment Republicans are reshaping the party as we populists take over the GOP. The Libertarians are no longer libertarian.

So you identify as a moderate libertarian populist Republican? That's...interesting.

[sparkey]

It doesn't seem that GJ has actually modified any of his positions to acquire these endorsements. That being the case, I'll take them, as positively bizarre as it is for the L's to be getting endorsements from literal Neocons who I would never vote for. Trump has sure made weird things happen.

[rob in cal]

  Can't wait to see if this happens and how Jeb handles the anti-war aspects of the Libertarians.  I'm sure !Jeb! loves the open borders vision of an internationalized US that the Libertarians have.

[Leinad]

If this is true, I will say unambiguously nice things about a Bush for the first time, like, ever.

Johnson/Weld is a perfect ticket for people who dislike these two terrible choices the failed two-party system has given us. And remember, the "lesser of two evils" argument means nothing if the state you're voting in has no chance of being one of the deciders.

[angus]

Kinda surprised you aren't for Johnson. A pot-smoking, drug legalization favoring libertarian Republican seems like your type. ;-)

haha. 

Their platform is reasonable and I haven't ruled him out yet.  I talked to a guy last week on a boat who will vote for Johnson.  I'll decide after August 1. 

[Coolface Sock #42069]

The fact that Jeb! won't categorically rule it out makes me think it could really happen.

I'll refrain from making "Please clap" jokes.

[Inmate Trump]

Love it, still will vote for Hillary because he won't win and it'll help ensure that Trump loses.

This.

I would love to vote for Gary again, but with Trump being the GOP nominee, I have to back Clinton to make sure the reincarnated Hitler doesn't win.

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

Would this even help Johnson? This reeks of sore-loserism and I doubt many UT Republicans would be clinging to Jeb's words.

[Panda Express]

Seeing the Romney/Bushes/George Will crowd surrender the GOP and hijack and reforge the Libertarian Party would be interesting.

[President Johnson]

Pledge? What pledge?

Go home Jeb, you low-energy loser.

[Mr. Morden]

Would this even help Johnson? This reeks of sore-loserism and I doubt many UT Republicans would be clinging to Jeb's words.

As I said in my earlier post, it doesn't matter if Bush directly influences anyone to vote for Johnson or not.  The far more important impact would be the indirect influence, stemming from the fact that if "serious" Republicans like Bush are endorsing Johnson, the media will cover Johnson more, and thereby generate free media for him.

[Inmate Trump]

A Jeb endorsement would generate media buzz which would most likely translate into higher poll numbers.

He's already at roughly 10% in many polls. If he gets to 15% or more he's in the debates. And then his numbers will only rise even more.

Voters are already dissatisfied with both major party options.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

A Jeb endorsement would generate media buzz which would most likely translate into higher poll numbers.

He's already at roughly 10% in many polls. If he gets to 15% or more he's in the debates. And then his numbers will only rise even more.

Voters are already dissatisfied with both major party options.

This. The disgruntled anti-Johnsons in the LP core are already not on board. Jeb's endorsement will just give them some "I told you so" material but won't matter much really there.  Amongst Paulite Rs and moderates that hate Trump? This is going to be something. 

[RINO Tom]

A Jeb endorsement would generate media buzz which would most likely translate into higher poll numbers.

He's already at roughly 10% in many polls. If he gets to 15% or more he's in the debates. And then his numbers will only rise even more.

Voters are already dissatisfied with both major party options.

This. The disgruntled anti-Johnsons in the LP core are already not on board. Jeb's endorsement will just give them some "I told you so" material but won't matter much really there.  Amongst Paulite Rs and moderates that hate Trump? This is going to be something. 

I WANT TO BELIEVE.

[Mehmentum]

Yeah...  maybe he's waiting until after the conventions?

[Fargobison]

Well his brother Marvin endorsed Johnson today...

https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/jeb-bushs-brother-marvin-endorses-gary-johnson-for-president?utm_term=.rhqb9qZ1R#.byZ8v6r0z

[RINO Tom]

We should rename the LP at this point. The Paulites are gone, the loonies have been culled from actual influence, and establishment Republicans are reshaping the party as we populists take over the GOP. The Libertarians are no longer libertarian.

Jeb Bush is a Republican no matter how he votes in November.  Same for Romney.  Same for Mark Kirk.  Same for any member of the party who's not okay with the Trump campaign.

You guys aren't taking over shlt, LOL.  I can't wait until 2020 when we nominate a normal Republican and you are the ones out of the party mainstream (back where you belong).

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

You guys aren't taking over shlt, LOL.  I can't wait until 2020 when we nominate a normal Republican and you are the ones out of the party mainstream (back where you belong).

The biggest reason the Trump movement will fail is that Corporate America won't touch it with a ten-foot pole.  They aren't going to put all their eggs in the Democrat basket, and there's no way to build a third party from the ground up in time to win at the national level.  So expect the big bucks to flow to those GOP politicians who toe the establishment economic line.