If the Republican Party and its Tea Party influencers are serious about reducing the size and scope of government, relieving our unsustainable debt burden and balancing the budget, then the man who should be its 2012 nominee officially entered the lackluster field on Thursday morning.

Of course, in order to get the small government credibility and civil liberty protections that come with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Republicans will have to put up with a candidate who not only believes in the legalization of marijuana, but someone who admits to smoking it extensively; a candidate who not only believes in a sensible, enforcement-last immigration policy, but someone who doesn’t approve of the right’s rhetoric; and a candidate who openly admires GOP black sheep Ron Paul.