“Democrats and Republicans make up the presidential debate commission, 15 percent is not the law”.
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The candidates needed to make a 15 percent. polling threshold across several major national polls in order to qualify for the debates.
The Green Party candidate for President, Jill Stein was in Baltimore Friday night for a Get Out the Vote Rally.
The failure to be invited to the September 26 debate at Hofstra University deals a significant blow to Johnson and Stein, who are desperate for national exposure to promote their long-shot bids for the White House.
She noted the Democratic National Committee “sabotagued” the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, and notes many Sanders supporters are now supporting the Green Party.
Evan McMullin, who launched an independent presidential bid in August, said in a tweet that the debates are “rigged” and proposed that he, Stein and Johnson hold their own debate.
Johnson’s running mate, former MA governor Bill Weld, will not take part in the vice-presidential debate, which will be contested by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia on 4 October. The commission will run the numbers on its polls two more times and could potentially invite them to the second or third debates if their support swells.
“There are more polls and more debates, and we plan to be on the debate stage in October”, Johnson said in a statement.
Johnson says that while he’s disappointed in the CPD’s decision, he’s not surprised.
In a statement released on Friday, he said: “The CPD may scoff at a ticket that enjoys “only” 9% or 10% in their hand-selected polls, but even 9% represents 13 million voters, more than the total population of OH and most other states”.
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“Consider that 76% of Americans want the presidential debates to include Gary Johnson and me”. Johnson averaged 8.4 percent, while Stein was trailing at 3.2 percent, according to the Associated Press. It excluded two third-party candidates who had hoped the event could help them talk directly to an electorate unhappy with the two front-runners. They’ll need to earn votes quickly: According to USA Today, the second presidential debate is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis.
