- Joined
- Feb 2, 2016
- Messages
- 34,002
- Reaction score
- 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson Is Nearing a Prime-Time Slot
Newsweek
Matthew Cooper 6 hrs ago
With Donald Trump plummeting in the polls and Hillary Clinton registering high negatives, the Libertarian Party ticket has a rare opportunity: to be represented in the presidential debates for the first time since 1992.
That opportunity has been underscored by a new Fox News poll that shows the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor, getting 12 percent support. A party qualifies to join a presidential debate if it scores 15 percent in a series of polls leading up to the fall forums.
In addition to the attraction of being someone other than Clinton or Trump, Johnson is helped by his running mate, William Weld of Massachusetts, who like himself is a former Republican two-term governor of a Democratic state. Both men have a certain charm: Johnson is a triathlete who has climbed the highest peaks on all continents and Weld is an old-line Boston Brahmin who once dove fully clothed into the city’s Charles River to show its cleanliness. Pro-abortion and anti-Common Core, they’re libertarian without heeding some of the party’s more extreme freedom-loving, anarchistic elements. (At the party’s convention this spring, Johnson had to defend his belief in driver’s licenses and anti-discrimination laws.)
During their second CNN town hall this summer on Wednesday night, both men were in full form, eschewing ideological straightjackets and offering some humor along the way. Weld, wearing the kind of thick pinstripe suit eschewed by modern pols, said Trump had a “screw loose” and cited two Franklin Roosevelt appointees to the Supreme Court, William O. Douglas and Hugo Black, as the kind of justices he’d look for.
Both men used the town hall to take their best shots at luring Bernie Sanders supporters. “Well, I think Bernie and I are similar on about 75 percent of what's out there,” Johnson said. “And, of course, that would be marriage equality, a woman's right to choose, legalizing marijuana, let's stop with the military interventions.”
Weld appealed to traditional Republicans, citing his experience in the Reagan Justice Department as well as his appearance at previous GOP conventions which could occasionally be a mixed bad. The 71-year-old has a tendency to walk down memory lane in a way that may seem like a distant soujourn to younger voters, such as when Weld cited Reagan’s first CIA director, William Casey, and his preference for “humint” (human intelligence sources), or offered recollections of the 1996 Republican Convention as if it took place yesterday instead of 20 years ago.
Both men know that their presence in the debates is essential for having a shot in the presidential race or even doing better than the mere 1 percent Johnson scored as the party’s nominee in 2012. The 63-year-old is blunt: “There's no chance of winning without being in the presidential debates…the first presidential debate is going to garner more audience than the Super Bowl,” he said during the town hall. “Well you can't win the presidency if you're not in that game.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...hnson-is-nearing-a-prime-time-slot/ar-BBvgspd
________________________________________________________________________________
So I am hoping beyond hope, that Johnson gets on that stage for the debates. Trump and Clinton are the 2 most unpopular nominees in the history of polling. Our presidential campaign has become a running joke for the world.
I believe if people are introduced to a viable 3rd option, we could see a meteoric rise of a candidate. Below is the scenario I envision and hope for.
Trump and Clinton enter into a feces throwing competition in the debate, and walk out covered in shit. Gary Johnson tries to present himself as the only adult in the room, and has a good debate performance. GJ goes from 15% to 30% after one debate, when the whole country realizes that they don't have to pick from the clown show that is Trump and Clinton.
We now have a 3rd party candidate in a 3 way race for president, and all conventional assumptions are thrown out the window, as has been the case throughout this whole election.
Discuss..............
Newsweek
Matthew Cooper 6 hrs ago
With Donald Trump plummeting in the polls and Hillary Clinton registering high negatives, the Libertarian Party ticket has a rare opportunity: to be represented in the presidential debates for the first time since 1992.
That opportunity has been underscored by a new Fox News poll that shows the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee, Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor, getting 12 percent support. A party qualifies to join a presidential debate if it scores 15 percent in a series of polls leading up to the fall forums.
In addition to the attraction of being someone other than Clinton or Trump, Johnson is helped by his running mate, William Weld of Massachusetts, who like himself is a former Republican two-term governor of a Democratic state. Both men have a certain charm: Johnson is a triathlete who has climbed the highest peaks on all continents and Weld is an old-line Boston Brahmin who once dove fully clothed into the city’s Charles River to show its cleanliness. Pro-abortion and anti-Common Core, they’re libertarian without heeding some of the party’s more extreme freedom-loving, anarchistic elements. (At the party’s convention this spring, Johnson had to defend his belief in driver’s licenses and anti-discrimination laws.)
During their second CNN town hall this summer on Wednesday night, both men were in full form, eschewing ideological straightjackets and offering some humor along the way. Weld, wearing the kind of thick pinstripe suit eschewed by modern pols, said Trump had a “screw loose” and cited two Franklin Roosevelt appointees to the Supreme Court, William O. Douglas and Hugo Black, as the kind of justices he’d look for.
Both men used the town hall to take their best shots at luring Bernie Sanders supporters. “Well, I think Bernie and I are similar on about 75 percent of what's out there,” Johnson said. “And, of course, that would be marriage equality, a woman's right to choose, legalizing marijuana, let's stop with the military interventions.”
Weld appealed to traditional Republicans, citing his experience in the Reagan Justice Department as well as his appearance at previous GOP conventions which could occasionally be a mixed bad. The 71-year-old has a tendency to walk down memory lane in a way that may seem like a distant soujourn to younger voters, such as when Weld cited Reagan’s first CIA director, William Casey, and his preference for “humint” (human intelligence sources), or offered recollections of the 1996 Republican Convention as if it took place yesterday instead of 20 years ago.
Both men know that their presence in the debates is essential for having a shot in the presidential race or even doing better than the mere 1 percent Johnson scored as the party’s nominee in 2012. The 63-year-old is blunt: “There's no chance of winning without being in the presidential debates…the first presidential debate is going to garner more audience than the Super Bowl,” he said during the town hall. “Well you can't win the presidency if you're not in that game.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...hnson-is-nearing-a-prime-time-slot/ar-BBvgspd
________________________________________________________________________________
So I am hoping beyond hope, that Johnson gets on that stage for the debates. Trump and Clinton are the 2 most unpopular nominees in the history of polling. Our presidential campaign has become a running joke for the world.
I believe if people are introduced to a viable 3rd option, we could see a meteoric rise of a candidate. Below is the scenario I envision and hope for.
Trump and Clinton enter into a feces throwing competition in the debate, and walk out covered in shit. Gary Johnson tries to present himself as the only adult in the room, and has a good debate performance. GJ goes from 15% to 30% after one debate, when the whole country realizes that they don't have to pick from the clown show that is Trump and Clinton.
We now have a 3rd party candidate in a 3 way race for president, and all conventional assumptions are thrown out the window, as has been the case throughout this whole election.
Discuss..............
