Could Libertarian Gary Johnson qualify for the first presidential debate?
Gary Johnson needs a surge in the polls.
The Libertarian Party candidate has consistently placed third in surveys of the voting public, behind the Democratic and Republican candidates, with his support hovering , according to an analysis by FiveThirtyEight. That may be considered a strong showing for a third-party candidate. But it falls short of what Mr. Johnson, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative and social liberal, will need in order to qualify for the first presidential debate on September 26.
On Monday, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) 聽for this year鈥檚 debates, requiring that candidates claim an average of 15 percent of the national electorate, as reflected in surveys conducted by five major nonpartisan pollsters.
The success of his campaign, Johnson says, hinges on qualifying.
鈥淭he only chance of winning is to ,鈥� he told MSNBC in June, 鈥渁nd to be in the presidential debates you鈥檝e got to be in the polls.鈥�
The pollsters were chosen on the advice of Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport, said the CPD, adding that the criteria would be applied in mid-September. Candidates who fail to qualify for the first debate can make it to the second and third, if they can muster a miracle.
鈥淚f a candidate is invited to the first presidential debate, that person's vice presidential running mate will be invited to the vice presidential debate,鈥� said the Commission in a statement. 鈥淭he criteria will be reapplied between the first and second presidential debates and the second and third presidential debates.鈥�
Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico, tends to get kudos from conservatives for that include the abolition of the IRS as well as income and capital-gains taxes, the latter of which would be replaced with a consumption tax.聽He is also a strong proponent of marijuana legalization 鈥� and, , a regular consumer of the drug 鈥� qualities that have聽 like Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and former candidate Mitt Romney, reports NBC.
Johnson and his fellow non-traditional candidates are benefitting this electoral season from the unprecedented unpopularity of the main candidates. In early July, 21 percent told Reuters/Ipsos that they would 聽the Democratic nor Republican candidate, compared to just 13 percent who said the same in a 2012 poll, and a majority said they viewed both of the main candidates unfavorably.
Still, Johnson has admitted that he is hoping for a back door into the presidency. If neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton receives a majority of electoral votes, the final result comes down to a vote in the House of Representatives, with a single vote for every state鈥檚 delegation. And in a by the New Yorker, he suggested that in the event of such a scenario, he could represent a 鈥渃ompromise鈥� president for the two major parties.
鈥淏ecause, if it goes beyond one ballot, Democrats are not going to cross over the line to change to Trump, and Republicans are not going to go over the line to support Clinton. They鈥檙e going to have to compromise, and I鈥檇 be the compromise,鈥� he said then.
