John King, USA
The latest political news and information on the most important stories affecting you.
December 28th, 2011
07:39 PM ET
Leaving the GOP
Gary Johnson explains to CNN's Candy Crowley why he'd like to be the Libertarian nominee for president.
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He's got my vote!!!!
Other than Ron Paul, I'm voting Libertarian.
Candy, thanks for the explanation of the debate criteria, BUT, had the Associated Press and other news outlets, like CNN, included Gary Johnson in the GOP primary narrative, he might have met CNN's debate threshhold. Johnson was the first to announce his candidacy and from an early election state. Media instead let even non-candidates, like Haley Barbour, into the campaign coverage, with not a mention of Gary Johnson anywhere. I am at a loss for the AP's and others' decision to box him out.
Wooow.. Just shut him out at the end there.
Candy, did you not listen to what he said? He said he polled 2% in a CNN poll and then was EXCLUDED from subsequent polls. How is he supposed to maintain a 2% national average if you exclude him as soon as he nears that threshold? And additionally, at some points he polled better than Santorum yet Santorum was in EVERY debate! How does that make sense? In October, Santorum's national average was between 1.5 and 2%!
I am happy Gary is running as a libertarian. I gave money to his campaign as a Republican and don't feel bad at all, at least Gary is staying on message from the start. Wouldn't you feel bad if you gave to the Cain campaign built on lies, so stop bashing Gary Johnson. Your polls were faulty, many didn't even include Gary Johnson as a choice. Therefore how would he get 2% if not an option.
I contributed to Governor Johnson when he announced as a Republican, and doubled my contribution when he announced as a Libertarian. (BTW, he was a member of the LP when he was governor of NM.)
The issue is not his party label, but his advocacy for small government, fiscal restraint, and a foreign policy unencumbered by adventurism and intervention.
Gary Johnson got blackballed because he didn't answer all of the usual question exactly the same as the rest of the candidates. I'm sick of the same answers to the same questions that haven't worked for generations. That's the reason I was attracted to Gary Johnson in the first place.
Candy – nice of you to re-state CNN's debate criteria without addressing the silliest, most indefensible case, which Gov. Johnson JUST sited:
Following the first poll where Gov. Johnson out-polled Santorum, Huntsman and Cain in August, scoring 2%, CNN inexplicably REMOVED Gov. Johnson's name from CNN's very next poll – ensuring that Gov. Johnson could not meet your threshold of 2% average – how can he do that if you remove his name from the poll after his best showing yet?!?!
It's pretty damn tough to poll at 2% when your name does not appear in the polls themselves. To deny that there was active exclusion of Johnson at the point he mentions is unbelievably dishonest.
Im sure he would have had higher poll numbers if his name had been included in the polls in the first place. Most polls ran the republican canidates that the GOP wanted not even the top ten. Typical of a broken system.
The worry that people donated to him on the premise that he would run as a republican is ridiculous to me. It seems to me that most people who have followed Johnson were expecting something like this to happen for a while now considering how much he was black balled by the media. Asking such a question during the interview is disingenuous at best and frankly smacks of yet another talking point republicans are throwing out there to try and draw support from Johnson via FUD. Republicans have every reason to be scared, whether its from Obama or the Libertarian message. Johnson is quite right that America is pretty much fed up with the status quo, and I hope he continues to gain support.
I'm registering this year just for this man.
The Libertarian Party is working every day to cut your taxes. By contrast, professional politicians from the other parties just want more of your money, and are busy increasing the size of government.
In the last few decades, the federal government has exploded in size. No area of your life or business is free from the meddling of politicians - especially your wallet.
– Please Visit vvvvvv, lp.org/
For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Carla Howell at 202-333-0008 ext. 222
carla.howell@lp.org.