A friend made a casual remark that may contain the seeds of a Republican presidential victory in 2016. The remark was that Gary Johnson got elected as Republican governor of New Mexico because he favored legalizing marijuana. He may be onto something.
Think about it. As long as an Obama like Democrat can make promises he won't keep and yet count on low information voters to sweep him into office like he did in 2012, then Republicans can't win. So Republicans have to beat Democrats at their own game. And a promise to legalize marijuana will capture the low information voters' attention like nothing else would. Add to that a promise to give a free marijuana joint to each voter, and the Republicans would be unstoppable.
The beauty of this is that legalizing marijuana could have a positive effect. It not only would be a revenue source, but it would hit the cartels harder than the war on drugs could ever do. Reduce the deficit and reduce crime. It's win win.
Assuming a 25 pack of legal marijuana cigarettes would cost $7, about the same as a pack of cigarettes, a single joint of marijuana would cost about 28 cents. Multiply .28 times the number of votes counted in the 2012 election, 130 million, and we get a cost of $36.4 million. Given that Romney/Ryan spent $483 million in their losing campaign, that's not an extraordinary expense.
Better get moving, Republicans. Once Democrats get wind of this idea they'll snap it up like a free Obama phone.
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