Does Johnson lean Libertarian?
Ron Johnson, who is in a hotly contested race against U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, often speaks about freedom, limited government, lower taxes and the free-market system. Johnson is running as a Republican. But he is an admirer of Ayn Rand, whose book “Atlas Shrugged” describes a dystopian America and now is popular among many Libertarians. And many of his stands on the major issues could easily fit in the Libertarian Party playbook. Johnson doesn’t see it that way. “I’m not into labels,” he said recently when asked if he leaned Libertarian. “This government has gotten too big and spends too much money.” John Frendreis, a political science professor at Loyola University in Chicago, says Johnson might be better characterized as a tea party Republican rather than Libertarian. “Libertarians share with conservative Republicans in general and the tea party a significant and extreme dislike and distrust of government activity in an economic sphere,” Frendreis said. Frendreis said Libertarians ad
