WASHINGTON (CNN) – Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson said Thursday that Ted Cruz’s call to “vote your conscience” essentially encouraged people to support the former New Mexico governor.
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Johnson has indicated that he is focused on reaching an average of 15 percent support in national polls in order to participate in the nationally televised presidential debates.
The Libertarian Party presidential nominee says his anonymity is an advantage in a year in which voters dissatisfied with the choices could be shopping for an alternative to the Republican and the Democrat.
The Libertarians aren’t recognized as a political party in OH, but the party is busy getting the Johnson-Weld ticket on the ballot and expects to succeed, said Bob Bridges, the state party chairman. “We have candidates running for positions ranging from President to City Council”.
Johnson said Clinton and Trump had their “heads in the sand” on Social Security and vowed to reform the system by increasing the retirement age and making income a factor in whether individuals qualify for assistance.
According to the latest presidential poll from CNN and ORC International, Gary Johnson is gaining ground among voters, albeit by the slightest of margins.
“Although I do not personally … the majority of my peers have come to the conclusion that Trump would be better than Hillary”, she said. He just needs to win one state. The former secretary led with 42 percent, Trump followed with 37 percent, Johnson was next with 13 percent and Stein rounded out the poll with 5 percent of potential voters.
It’s no accident that the most successful third-party candidate in recent times was independent Ross Perot who in 1992 was included in the televised debates and ended up with 19 percent of the vote, although he got no electoral votes.
Bill Weld is Gary Johnson’s running mate, Donald Trump has chosen Mike Pence as his running mate and Hillary Rodham Clinton has not yet announced who her VP candidate will be for this year’s presidential race. “Johnson is the comet here when it comes to the dinosaur two-party thing”.
If you do not like Trump and Clinton, you needn’t accept them.
The results of a poll on January 17 showed that the Libertarian Party candidate captured 13 percent of votes in a hypothetical contest against Trump, Clinton and Jill Stein of the Green Party.
Johnson said the Libertarian Parties’ values are reflective of most Americans. Based on the responses of people who “suggest” they support Johnson, only 40 percent say the field of candidates excites them.
“The notion of keep government out of my pocketbook, keep government out of the bedroom; that free trade, free markets – that’s how we’re going to rule the world”, Johnson said.
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“If you’re not in the debates, there’s no way to win”, Johnson told The New Yorker.
