The Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement Friday that Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein were polling too low to qualify for the September 26 event. Only Clinton and Trump have been invited as they’re the only two candidates polling above 15 percent nationally, which is the threshold set by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
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For Johnson and Stein supporters, there is good news: The commission agreed to reevaluate both candidates prior to the next two presidential debates, according to Politico.
The Libertarian Party wants its presidential ticket to receive national security briefings from the federal government, just as the Democratic and Republican nominees do.
The last time a third-party candidate made the debate stage was in 1992, when Ross Perot debated Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.
Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee and former governor of New Mexico, will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in November’s presidential election, his campaign announced Tuesday.
“I would say I am surprised that the CPD has chosen to exclude me from the first debate, but I’m not”, he said in the statement.
This is a serious blow to the campaigns of Stein and Johnson, who were hoping to bank on Clinton and Trump’s unpopularity during this election cycle and gain more support among voters.
And the guidelines Roth uses to decide who’s eligible include a pretty vague rule saying the candidate must have a “significant” level of support.
Two thirds of voters in a recent poll also said they wanted Johnson to debate alongside the two major-party candidates. I can understand the latter rule, but the first is nearly impossible to meet when mainstream media does not allow third party candidates to spread their party’s platform during prime time.
The Commission on Presidential Debates is not an honest broker, and it doesn’t serve the public interest.
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According to the CBS News/New York Times poll, on Thursday Johnson was polling about 8 percent and Stein about 4 percent.
