The nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates invited both Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, and Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, to debate at Hofstra University in NY on September 26.
Advertisement
Democrats are particularly anxious that young voters are gravitating to Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein over Clinton. Tim Kaine and Gov. Mike Pence is set for October 4 at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.
The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday that it has invited only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to compete in the first general-election contest, on September 26.
In polls featuring all four candidates, Clinton led Trump, 41.9 percent to 40.8 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics poll average.
Johnson and Stein satisfied two of the criteria necessary to participate – that they be constitutionally eligible and have achieved ballot access in a sufficient number of states to win a theoretical Electoral College majority, the commission said.
Ironically, the gaffe appears to have given Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld, the former Republican governor of MA, a boost in the polls.
Both campaigns have railed against the commission’s criteria, saying that it unfairly limited voters’ options in an election cycle where the two major-party nominees are both historically disliked.
Johnson’s ad in the Times was used to publicize a letter to the debate commission, arguing national polls should not be the sole determining factor in which candidates are included in the debates.
Johnson and Weld’s participation in the presidential debates remains another obstacle for their campaign, however.
“There are more polls and more debates, and we plan to be on the debate stage in October”, he stated. Donald Trump supported open debates in 2000 and said it was incredible that this commission could keep people out of debates.
Before the announcement, Team Clinton was in panic mode over third parties siphoning votes from its candidate.
Similarly, if 100 people are polled and 10 of them respond that they don’t know who they are voting for yet, those votes are not counted as supporting Johnson specifically, even those people have specifically said they are not convinced to vote for the Republican or the Democrat.
Advertisement
NBC’s Lester Holt will moderate the first debate on September 26. Gary Johnson and William Weld are very close, polling up to 13 percent nationwide (but as high as 25 percent in New Mexico and 23 percent in Utah).
