Gary Johnson, Jill Stein on N.H. ballot: Can they get to the debates?
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| Concord, N.H.
The leading third party candidates for president 鈥 Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein 鈥 will appear on the New Hampshire ballot in November.
Both have submitted the necessary 3,000 signatures to be listed on the ballot as presidential candidates. Ms. Stein's supporters delivered stacks of paperwork to the Secretary of State's office Friday; Mr. Johnson had already qualified. The election is Nov. 8.
The Libertarian Party says that it's currently on the ballot聽with its 2016 presidential candidate in聽47 states, plus聽D.C., and remains on track to be聽on the ballot in all 50. The Green Party reports that it's on the ballot in 42 states, plus Washington D.C.聽
Stein and Johnson saw little success in their 2012 bids, with Johnson winning 1.3 million votes and Stein less than half a million. But both are hoping to capitalize on the electorate's negative feelings toward Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton to energize new supporters.
Stein, who is anti-war and advocates for an aggressive move toward clean energy, is appealing to supporters of former Democratic presidential candidate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Johnson, meanwhile, says his fiscally conservative but more socially liberal views put him in line with most voters.
Johnson recently campaigned in the state and is better known among New Hampshire voters than Stein, according to a July poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
Winning a spot on the presidential debate stage will be critical for Johnson's and Stein's ability to share their views with a wide audience. Each needs to hit 15 percent in several selected national polls. As of now, neither has. Johnson overall polls higher (about 10 percent) than Stein (about 3-4 percent)
海角大神 reported that聽three out of five American voters want a聽聽during the coming presidential debates, according to the latest Quinnipiac University聽poll 鈥 a sign that Americans want an alternative to this unusually negative presidential race.
There are three presidential debates scheduled for September and October. The first is Sept. 26聽at Hofstra University in New York.聽
But Politico reports that ;
Looking at the same five polls the commission will use, Johnson鈥檚 support was actually a point higher, 10.8 percent, in the pre-conventions round of polling than it is now...
In an interview on 鈥淔ox News Sunday鈥 this week, Johnson acknowledged that falling short would be 鈥済ame over鈥 for his chances of winning. Additionally, as a third-party candidate looking to spread an ideological message, missing the stage would mean losing a chance to make the libertarian case to millions of viewers.