Libertarian Party presidential nominee Governor Gary Johnson appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday, July 1, 2016. Johnson has been traveling across the nation to garner as much media as possible since his nomination for president in late May 2016. Video of the interaction between Gary Johnson and Bill Maher can be found below.
Johnson was well-received by Maher and the television studio crowd. We “will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” said Johnson, which surprised Maher. Gary Johnson, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the only three 2016 presidential candidates who will be on the ballot in all 50 states.
When discussing his exclusion from much media and many polls, Johnson said, “They posted a poll a couple days ago where ‘Clinton, Trump and another candidate got 12%, without naming my name. So, it’s a rigged game.” Maher agreed that the system is rigged in favor of the Democrats and Republicans.
The mainstream media and polling organizations continue to promote the false narrative that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the only two candidates for American voters in the 2016 presidential election. Four polls were released on June 30, 2016, on the presidential election and they only included Clinton and Trump. This is dangerous because Gary Johnson will be on ballot in all 50 states and is polling between 9 to 12 percent nationally, and this is during a time that a majority of Americans do not know who he is. The mainstream media does this at their own peril as Americans are waking up to the fact that they are often not told the real story by traditional news outlets. American voters are now doing their own research and are seeking out alternative news venues to get a better picture of what is happening around them.
Ballotpedia, in partnership with Evolving Strategies, came out on June 29, 2016, with their poll regarding how the three major presidential candidates stand in key states in the U.S. Libertarian Party presidential nominee, Governor Gary Johnson stood at an average of 13 percent by respondents, Republican Party presumptive nominee Donald Trump received 34 percent and Democratic Party presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton resulted in a 44 percent showing. The poll was conducted in Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Johnson will assumingly need 15 percent from national polls, not just key states, in order to be included in the presidential debates being held by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). We say “assumingly” because, as the CPD web site states as of this article being published, “The CPD will announce in the near future additional details about the 2016 debates, including debate format and candidate selection criteria. Moderators will be announced in 2016.” This disclaimer gives the CPD the wiggle room to move the goal posts, so to speak, should Johnson reach the 15 percent marker and still find a way to exclude him. Although not a favorite tactic of Libertarians in general, Governor Gary Johnson has sued the CPD in order to be included in this year’s debate as he is expected to be on the ballot in all 50 states alongside the Republican and Democratic Party nominees. The crux of the lawsuit is that so long as a candidate has a mathematical chance to be elected President of the United States, then that candidate should be on-stage for Americans to see and hear during a debate by all qualified candidates. This year, that will likely only be Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson and Donald Trump.
Although the Ballotpedia poll is not a national poll, it does show how Gary Johnson’s popularity is increasing as more Americans hear about him and the issues he stands for. The poll’s respondents were a near equal mix of people who identified as either “strong Republican” or “strong Democrat” or “Independent.” The poll was conducted between June 10 through June 22, 2016, of over 4,200 registered voters. Although Johnson is still being marginalized by the mainstream media, this poll shows the persistence of Americans seeking an alternative candidate other than the Republican or Democrat. In the Ballotpedia poll, Johnson did best in Iowa with a 16 percent showing and worst at 10 percent in North Carolina.
Categories: Politics
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