GOP Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson Talks to Pagan Media
October 18, 2011 in Uncategorized
Gary Johnson, the former Governor of New Mexico, spoke to a panel of Pagan and Hindu Media sources on October 16, 2011 in a live Google + “Hangout” town hall meeting to answer questions about his views and upcoming 2012 election. This monumental and ground breaking event was a first for Pagan specific media sources and was publicized by Johnson himself on his Google + page.
Cara Shultz, Co-Editor of Pagan Newswire Collective Minnesota, arranged this conference and worked diligently to coordinate all the details, including the live broadcast of the event that was done by Keith Barrett TV. Representatives from Pagan Newswire Collective Minnesota, Capital Witch, Modern Witch Podcast, Patheos Pagan Portal, The Wild Hunt, The American Hindu Foundation and Pagan Newswire Collective Bay Area represented the Pagan and Hindu Media sources in this 90 minute session with Governor Johnson. Johnson answered questions that ranged from drug policy, schools, jobs , gay rights and even the rights of minority faith practitioners in prisons and the military.
Governor Johnson discussed conservative views on federal spending and his promise to present a plan to balance the federal budget in 2013 if he is elected. The former Governor joked about his record of vetoing approximately 750 bills while in office in New Mexico and earning the “Governor Veto” nickname. Johnson also discussed his more liberal views in the Republican party and states “I don’t expect to get the social conservative vote. When it comes to Republicans, the majority of Republicans in this country are not social conservatives, but the overwhelming majority of Republican activists are social conservatives. I won’t get the social conservative vote in the primary, although I’d like to think I would get it in the general election.”
Governor Johnson responded to Modern Witch Podcast and Pagan Newswire Collective Bay Area’s Devin Hunter when he asked “why talk to Pagans?” by stating, “I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you are opinion makers. People look to you for your opinions because you take the time to be well informed.”
This 90 minute conference was full of questions that addressed current national issues, Pagan related concerns and plans for the future of the United States. The recorded conference can be viewed at http://www.justin.tv/keithbarrett/b/297672916 .
For the post conference conversations with the Pagan Media interviewers, visit the Modern Witch Podcast’s blog talk radio site at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/devin-hunter/2011/10/17/the-modern-witch—live-post-conference-coverage.
As the week continues, Pagan Newswire Collective Bay Area will post links to responses and articles that come out about this monumental event within the Pagan community.
Note: Media representatives for this event included:
Cara Shultz – Pagan Newswire Collective Minnesota
Jason Pitzl-Waters – The Wild Hunt
Star Foster – Managing Editor of the Pagan Portal at Patheos.com
Devin Hunter – Modern Witch Podcast and Pagan Newswire Collective Bay Area
DavidSalisbury – Capitol Witch and Human Rights Campaign
Ramesh Rao – Professor at Longwood University and Executive Council Member of the American Hindu Foundation
Crystal Blanton – Pagan Newswire Collective Bay Area
Crystal Blanton – PNC Bay Area reporting
[...] You can read some follow-up and transcribed excerpts, here. Here’s Star Foster’s take. Here’s PNC-Bay Area’s report. I’m hoping more candidates for high office take the time to speak to their [...]
Your questions, Crystal, were very important to the members of our community with health concerns who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Disability. Thanks for asking them. I wanted to let PNC-Bay Area readers know that there is a full transcript of the Q&A available for the deaf and hearing impaired at http://www.patheos.com/community/paganswithdisabilities/2011/10/18/full-transcript-of-qa-with-presidential-candidate-gary-johnson/