Gary Johnson asked a question when someone posed one to him.
The question had to do with the largest city in Syria and the plight of those thousands of refugees fleeing Aleppo.
“What is Aleppo?” Johnson asked.
Seriously. That’s what the former New Mexico governor and Libertarian presidential candidate asked.
He’s embarrassed by it. More to the point, the non-answer and what ought to be perceived as a “stupid question” is now being seen as the doomsday death knell for Johnson’s presidential candidacy.
I’m trying to imagine the fallout that would have occurred if, say, Democrat Hillary Clinton had said such a thing. Or, if Republican Donald J. Trump had said it.
Clinton would be excoriated by those on the right and shunned by those on the left.
Trump? I feel reasonably certain he would have been praised by the righties. Lefties, I’m sorry to presume, just might have thrown up their hands.
Back to Gov. Johnson.
There were many of us out here in the peanut gallery who wanted his candidacy to get some traction. It looks as though — at this moment — he has just taken a dive.