During the previous election cycle, Ron Paul was the candidate that—no matter how much support he had—just couldn’t get the attention he deserved. Ron Paul still has a strong mainstream media bias fighting against him, but this time around, his force is too much to ignore (and will be even more once Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann drop out of contention).

This time, the guy that can’t get any respect is Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico. And that’s too bad, because he’s by far the most interesting candidate out there. His frank, honest, consistent views are so refreshing. He is the complete opposite of “politics as usual”. He holds many of the same liberty-oriented views as Ron Paul but he’s also a pretty well-spoken, funny, and charismatic guy. Ron Paul’s principles and record are rock solid, but looking presidential is not his strong suit.

Although he was actually one of the earliest into the GOP primary race, Gary Johnson has been almost completely ignored by the media. In fact, he wasn’t even invited to any of the debates prior to the most recent one even though he regularly polled at least as well as some of the other participants. And his inclusion in the most recent debate finally got him some attention, especially when one of his answers earned the most laughs of the night:

But since Ron Paul is actually getting some attention this time around (and has the finances and support to be a viable candidate despite what the mainstream media says), Gary Johnson is probably doomed to stay in the bottom tier this go-round. But I suspect he’ll be a major force once Ron Paul retires from politics (and may even run as a third-party candidate this cycle).

Lisa Depaulo did a wonderful article on Gary Johnson in the November issue of GQ. Even if you don’t care about politics, check out the article because it’s such a fun read. You’ll find yourself asking “what if” and imagining what American society would be like if we actually started trusting each other again.

See below for a good introduction to Gary Johnson:

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