*The picture is of Libertarian Party presidential candidates Gary Johnson and RJ Harris.

Sitting in my hotel room at the Orlando Airport Embassy Suites, I am trying to write about what has happened today, since I last left you. I’m currently distracted by Erin Burnett and her guests pontificating about taxes on my large hotel room flatscreen. Also, I am on my eleventh straight glass of cheap Canadian whiskey and sour mix. Technically it is a whiskey sour but it doesn’t really taste like one. Then again, I’m not used to having them made with rye-based whiskey. It could be that all the Labatt Blues I drank affected my taste buds. It’s all good – I’m not complaining, I’m just probably sharing too much of my inner dialogue right now. While I’m at it though, the steak I had at the bar was phenomenal! Okay.. okay, let me get to the point of this post, as I light up a Padrón 1964 and hope that the hotel staff doesn’t notice that I’m smoking out my non-smoking room. Crap, that reptile man James Carville is on T.V. now, I’ve got to hit the ‘power’ button and focus.

So I took a shower and threw on a three piece suit and made my way out to attend the small meet and greet with Gary Johnson that I was invited to. As soon as I opened my hotel room door, Gary Johnson was there pacing on his cell phone. I then realized that the room that the meet and greet was in was just a few doors down but the magical appearance of my second favorite candidate right outside my door caught me off guard. I had a million questions prepared in my head and I’ve never talked face-to-face with a presidential candidate before. Well, I did talk to Herman Cain in October of 2010 but that was way before he announced that he was running for the highest office in the land. Also, I didn’t really know much about him at the time.

Johnson put his phone away, said “hello” and reached out to shake my hand. I gave him a solid shake and immediately asked him how the Libertarian Party primary process worked. I kind of knew the answer but this just immediately popped into my head. He explained that all the states have their own votes and that the final vote and selection would happen in May at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Las Vegas. Johnson explained that the selection process was essentially like that of a brokered convention. The host of the get-together then led Gary and I inside the room and we were soon followed by a few others who were also invited.

The discussion started with Johnson talking about economics with one of the other people there. They discussed interest rates, housing and all sorts of stuff. I was distracted because I was trying to think of things to ask, as my million or so questions I had in my head on the drive up to Orlando, were seemingly nowhere to be found in my memory banks. In any event, I had four drinks at this point and they were really starting to set in, making me less nervous and causing me to start throwing questions around.

First, I asked Mr. Johnson if he had a strategy to bring in the Ron Paul supporters after Dr. Paul was eliminated from the race, assuming he doesn’t win the Republican primary – which isn’t looking good at this point. Gary said that he is a Ron Paul supporter and that he knows that Paul supporters are smart people that are already aware of him and the fact that his message is pretty much the same as Ron Paul’s. He doesn’t feel that he needs to do anything, as that support will shift towards him. Honestly, I disagree with this, as I know how most of us Paul supporters are feeling right now. We’re disenfranchised and so sick of the political system that if Paul isn’t on the ballot in November, many of us either won’t vote or we’ll write “Ron Paul” on the ballot. In fact, I know that a lot of people are planning to give Paul a write-in vote come November and because of that, Johnson will have lost people that he could’ve attracted if there were a real effort to grab those people and give them a second chance of hope. I think that rounding up the Paul supporters is essential if Johnson wants to come close to winning. I’m already on board and will give Johnson my vote, if Paul doesn’t get the Republican nomination.

I also asked Johnson if he was a Libertarian Party member for life or if there was the possibility of him running as a Republican candidate again, somewhere down the line, if he were to not win the presidential election in November. Johnson told us a story that he had bought a Libertarian Party shirt earlier in the day and that he was proud to wear it. He said that he never bought a Republican shirt but was given thousands of them for various groups and organizations over the years. He said that, regardless of owning many, he has never once worn a shirt promoting the Republican Party. He said that the reason was because he was never comfortable doing so because people typically have hostile reactions towards Republicans. He says that he feels it is due to their stance on most social issues, I agree. He said that as a Republican he was always expected to make excuses for the GOP in defense of many common criticisms of the party on social issues. He admitted that he was never able to wholeheartedly do this, as he more often than not agreed with the criticisms of the Republican Party on social issues. He finished by saying that he has never been more comfortable in his life at wearing a party’s banner. He said that he was always a libertarian and that he is focused on bringing the party to the next level.

Expanding on that, I asked him how he could bring the party to that next level. He pointed out that if he could get just 5 percent of the vote in the November elections, that it would bring in $90 million for the Libertarian Party. He explained that the Democrats and Republicans set the system up to be a two-party dominated game, as the money given to parties, is based off of how they perform in the presidential elections and for a party to get a substantial amount of cash (that being $90 million), they need to get at least 5 percent in the general election. So if a third party can generate the difficult amount of 5 percent against the ultra-rich powerhouses, they are entitled to get paid. Now with a third party getting $90 million with just 5 percent of the vote, imagine how much the Democrats and Republicans get regardless of how they finish! This is how they stay in power and dominate politics and this is what Johnson wants to fight against by getting at least 5 percent of the vote. He pointed out that he is currently polling at around 9 percent head-to-head-to-head with Obama and Romney. Gary Johnson can truly alter business in Washington and throw a wrench in the machine of tyranny, as far as the two-party system goes.

Now if Johnson can get 15 percent, he will be invited to the national debates between Barack Obama and the Republican nominee. Since he is polling around 9 percent, an increase in 6 points isn’t impossible before the October debates. Truth is, this is very doable and if he was able to participate, Gary Johnson could serve up some hardcore truth to the Democrat and Republican establishment. Gary told me that the rule of having 15 percent was established by both Republicans and Democrats back when Ross Perot ran for president in 1992 as a member of the Reform Party. It is essentially another establishment tactic to try and keep the power consolidated within the boundaries of just the two major parties.

The meet and greet was then broken up and I went down to the hotel bar to meet my friends from the Libertarian Party of Collier County. While waiting for them, I spoke to many of the libertarian attendees over drinks. Nothing really exciting happened other than typical networking jargon and business card passing. I promoted TheSwash.com and most of them either promoted their blogs, their local organizations or whomever candidate they were there working for. My peeps from the LPCC finally arrived and shortly after that, Gary Johnson made his way down to the bar area to chit-chat, providing me with a second opportunity for some deep and insightful discussion.

Kicking off round two, I asked Gary Johnson how he differed from Ron Paul. He said that he didn’t want to build a border fence and didn’t understand why Paul was for the idea. I agree with Johnson on this one, as I always questioned Ron Paul’s reasoning on wanting a border fence, as it will cost a ton of money and it has been proven to be ineffective. Johnson also pointed out that he believes in a woman’s right to choose where Ron Paul is anti-abortion. Gary Johnson also believes in marriage equality for all people, which really isn’t far off from Paul’s stance, so let me clarify this. Ron Paul said that if he was in Congress in 1996, he would have voted for DOMA or the Defense of Marriage Act. The reason being is that he believes that states should have the rights to either allow or prohibit same sex marriage. In a nutshell, the bill’s purpose gave states the power of being able to refuse to recognize same sex marriages performed in other states or countries. I side with Johnson over Paul here, simply for the fact that the federal government needs to stay out of it and shouldn’t be bothered passing such a law to begin with. They should instead, honor the Constitution and especially the 10th Amendment, which gives the states the right to do whatever the hell they want in this case.

I brought up the issue of the gold standard and Johnson said that it was a step in the right direction but added that there were still horrible cases of inflation under the gold standard before. He believes that we need a dollar backed by commodities but that just incorporating gold wouldn’t generate the best results. He also wants to end the Federal Reserve but doesn’t believe that this will fully fix the problem either. He went on to be critical of people who say that the Fed is a private entity. He says that the government owns it and that it is like something that we all own stock in but can’t vote on, so we are essentially powerless to do anything about it.

I asked Johnson about his thoughts on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s ‘Freedom Watch’ being cancelled by Fox Business. Johnson said that it was unfortunate and a blow to liberty and that the movement needs to keep moving forward regardless of losing such an important and honest show for the libertarian faithful. He also added that he will appear on the last episode, as he was asked earlier in the day and said “yes”.

That was pretty much it for round two. I took a step back and let all the other people ask questions, plus I was starving and tired of standing so I sat down at the bar and ordered a steak and whiskey. Bill Still, another Libertarian Party presidential candidate, came down to the lobby but quickly left before I even had the chance to approach him. A few minutes later, someone came over to me and announced that Mr. Still would be at the T.G.I. Friday’s down the street if anyone wanted to pick his brain. By the time I got and ate my steak, a lot of time and liquor had passed and I didn’t feel like drunkenly walking a third of a mile through the rain in the dark in an unfamiliar place was the best idea. I opted to go back to my room and write this article instead.

One thing I want to point out before I end this, is that no other candidate apart from Johnson and in the end, Mr. Still, even made an attempt to come down and mingle with the people who would ultimately be voting for them. Those who hold the fate of the candidates in their hands were only entertained by Gary Johnson and Bill Still, who weirdly took his show off-site. The fact that the lesser-known guys were M.I.A. was odd. You think they’d be out lobbying for support and in all honesty, I’m completely puzzled as to why they weren’t. Maybe they think that opposing Gary Johnson is a losing battle. If that’s the case, drop out, go home and let the big boys play the game.