The two former Republican governors of Democratic states (you can’t get much bluer than Massachusetts) are hoping and praying that dissatisfaction with both Clinton and Trump will provide them with the heft they need to be true election contenders. Johnson and Weld have been working to increase their poll numbers enough to earn a spot on the debate stage.
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In their first TV ad to air locally, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson and running mate William Weld look directly into the camera as they introduce themselves.
“Give us one term, America”.
Romney is not the only former presidential candidate advocating for Johnson and Weld to qualify for the presidential debates. Sen.
Weld, who served as governor of MA from 1991 to 1997, is a close associate of Romney’s. “As far as the states included in this initial TV buy, the targeting is based on a number of factors, from propensities toward independent voters, the relative popularity of the other candidates, and media markets”. If he were to pull off a miracle and take those states’ electoral votes, he could theoretically keep Clinton or Trump from getting 270 electoral votes. In an August 26 Quinnipiac University poll, 62 percent of likely voters responded that they would like to see Gary Johnson in the debates. “Of actually endorsing the two of us”.
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And in an extremely weird example of the Johnson campaign being thrown a [metaphorical] bone, Gary Johnson may very well be invited to host Saturday Night Live, or at least appear in a sketch. Good showings with newspaper editorialists help too; the Johnson/Weld ticket received a nice boost from the Chicago Tribune editorial board last month, writing that “in a year when the public is sick of politics as usual, Johnson would bring a set of ideas to the debate stage a lot of people may like”.
