Gary Johnson for President

Yep, it's official. Our funky ex-governor is in the 2012 presidential race. Slate has an interesting article here.

Johnson made the announcement this morning in New Hampshire.

The move puts New Mexico in the political spotlight (a little bit, anyway) again during a presidential race, which should be interesting. Johnson is the first GOP candidate to announce he is running next year.

That could be because he's last in name recognition and needs to get out there as early as he can.

This from the LA Times:

According to a Gallup poll released this week, Johnson ranked last among 14 possible candidates in name recognition, hovering between 12% and 14%. Ranked highest was Sarah Palin, at 96% name recognition, though name recognition doesn’t always translate into popularity. Most polls place Palin in the first tier of four or five possible contenders and Johnson well back in the pack, though no one is running away with the nomination.

Whether the polls mean much -- and whether Johnson can quickly climb in name recognition remains to be seen. We know Johnson has come out of nowhere in the past. . .