A Letter To The Editor Regarding Southwest Airlines And The Presidential Debates

You may not be aware of this but because of pressure from consumers, 3 sponsors have pulled out of the Presidential Debates thus far. On Monday it was BBH New York, on Wednesday the YWCA dropped out and on Friday it was Philips Electronics.

As you can see, public opinion does matter to large corporations. With that in mind, we need to make it known to the other debate sponsors that there are those of us who are not happy with the Commission on Presidential Debates' decision to exclude other qualified 3rd party candidates from the upcoming debates.

Well, Southwest Airlines is one of those debate sponsors. They need to be put on notice that we are unhappy with their decision to support the exclusion of qualified 3rd party candidates who are on the ballots in enough states to have access to 270 or more electoral votes and thus a mathematical chance of winning the Presidency.

By excluding these candidates, Libertarian Gary Johnson and the Green Party's Jill Stein, Southwest, as well as the remaining six other sponsors, are actively silencing the voices of candidates who can influence the outcome of the election.

We know Southwest Airlines' senior management is aware of the issue as responses to email inquiries to the company show.

After careful review of the CPD’s request for Southwest Airlines involvement in the upcoming debates, our Senior Leaders felt that the core values of Southwest Airlines aligned with the CPD’s mission of providing American Citizens the opportunity to make informed decisions.

To this end, we must continue to pressure Southwest to reconsider their sponsorship and end their involvement with these sham debates.

I ask you all to email a Letter to the Editor of the Dallas Morning News (200 words or less), the major daily newspaper in Southwest's home city of Dallas. Also provided are the email addresses to Southwest executives so they may receive a copy of your letter. Blind copies should be sent to three additional Texas newspapers in cities served by Southwest as well.

Together we can make our voices and the voices of all qualified Presidential candidates heard.

Thank you for your support.

Here is a copy of the email that I sent, but remember to be effective you should use your own words.

To: letters@dallasnews.com, letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com

cc: gary.kelly@wnco.com, jeff.lamb@wnco.com, ron.ricks@wnco.com, dave.ridley@wnco.com, kevin.krone@wnco.com, linda.rutherford@wnco.com, ellen.torbert@wnco.com

bcc: letters@statesman.com, viewpoints@chron.com, letters@express-news.net

Subject: Why is Southwest Airlines limiting our choices in the upcoming Presidential election?

To the editor:

As a businessman who is a frequent traveler through Dallas and who regularly uses Southwest for my other business and personal travel, I am disheartened to hear that Southwest is suggesting that I only have the choice to vote for a Republican or a Democrat for President.

In sponsoring the Commission on Presidential Debates, an organization of professional Republican and Democratic functionaries in DC, Southwest is doing just that; preventing me and two hundred million other American voters from hearing other qualified candidates for President who will be on the majority of ballots this November.

I strongly disagree with Southwest's statement to me that, "The Senior Leadership of Southwest Airlines felt that their core values aligned with the CPD’s mission of providing American Citizens the opportunity to make informed decisions" given they are not allowing the American electorate to hear all the options in order to make that informed decision.

If a "core value" of Southwest is to silence the voices of qualified Presidential candidates, other than those from the Democratic or Republican parties, I wish to no longer do business with them.

Southwest should stay out of politics and not have a hand in influencing this important election.

Chris Walsh
San Tan Valley, AZ

And, if you wish to get in touch with the other six sponsors, here is their contact info as well:

Crowell & Moring LLP
At Crowell – Moring LLC, the Chairman is Kent A. Gardiner and his email is
kgardiner@crowell.com

Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
One Busch Place
St. Louis, MO 63118
800-342-5283
E-mail Contact Form: http://contactus.anheuser-busch.com/Contactus/email.asp

The Howard G. Buffet Foundation
158 W Prairie Ave, Suite 107
Decatur, IL 62523-1442
Also:
121 S 51st St
Omaha, NE 68132
402-556-6641

Sheldon S. Cohen, Esq.
Farr, Miller & Washington
1020 19th Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
800-390-3277
202-530-5600
202-530-5508 Fax
Email: sscohen@farrmiller.com

International Bottled Water Association
1700 Diagonal Road
Suite 650
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-683-5213
703-683-4074 Fax
Email: ibwainfo@bottledwater.org
800-WATER-11 (Information Hotline)
http://bottledwater.org

The Kovler Fund
aka Marjorie Kovler Research Fellowship
c/o John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Columbia Point
Boston, MA 02125
617-514-1624
617-514-1625 Fax
Email: kennedy.library@nara.gov

Stunner - Gary Johnson At 10.6 % In Gravis Marketing Ohio Poll

You read that right, Gary Johnson is at 10.6% in the latest Gravis Marketing/Capitol Correspondent Ohio Poll. Among likely Ohio voters he is up over 6% from the last Gravis poll just 2 weeks ago.

This is stunning news since the conventional wisdom is that 3rd party candidates start to sink in the polls as the election draws closer.

Q If the Presidential election were held today and the candidates were Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt Romney and Libertarian Gary Johnson, whom? would you vote?

Obama...........44.5%
Romney..........37.8%
Johnson..........10.6%
Other/Unsure....7.1%

Certainly, this poll is going to cause some sleepless nights for the Romney campaign, that's for sure. Not only is Governor Johnson over 10% in a key swing state but his inclusion in the poll dropped the former Massachusetts Governor from a deficit of less than 1%, in a head-to-head matchup against the President, to a nearly 7% gap.

The American people are starting to wake up, especially the fiscally conservative, pro-liberty Republicans. They are realizing that Milquetoast Mitt isn't much different on most policy than Obama and they see Gary Johnson as a legitimate third option.

So kudos to you Gary Johnson; your message is getting out and the people are hearing it loud and clear.

Gary Johnson, The Lesser Of Two Goods

There has been a lot of talk by Romney supporters that if you are not 80%, or even 50%, on board with their candidate that you should vote for their guy because he is the "lesser of two evils" and will do less harm to our nation than the current POTUS. But if you vote for Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, you are splitting the vote and will be responsible for getting Obama re-elected.

Not only does this show that they themselves have little faith in their candidate's ability to seal the deal on his own, but that they have little faith in his policies as well.

In other words, what I am hearing them saying is, "Vote for Romney because he sucks less than Obama."

Now there's a winning campaign slogan if I ever heard one.

Well, to many liberty minded individuals who don't buy this line of bull, Ron Paul is the gold standard of the liberty movement. In our lifetime there has been very few politicians, if any, who have had absolute fidelity to their Constitutional principles like Dr Paul.

But Ron Paul is not going to be President; the GOP Primaries settled that and with his retiring from the House and advanced age, this was his last go-around.

Gary Johnson on the other hand, is still in the race and as of this writing is on the ballot in 47 states and is looking like he will be on Pennsylvania's ballot, making it 48 states (he'll be excluded in Oklahoma and in all probability Michigan).

As his record as a two term Governor of New Mexico and his stated positions show, Gary Johnson is a legitimate liberty candidate.

Sure you can make the case, and many do, that Gary Johnson is lacking in libertarian bona fides, that his positions on humanitarian intervention and Israel are cause for concern and that he would govern on cost/benefit analysis rather than true libertarian principles.

Fair points all, but in the grand scheme of things he is still a fiscal conservative that would cut spending by 43%, submit a balanced budget in his first term, end the fed and be an overall thorn in the side of Leviathan.

President Gary Johnson would end our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and would not put US troops in foreign wars unless duly authorized by Congress.

He would also put an end to the war on Americans by ending the Drug War while repealing both the PATRIOT Act and NDAA as well as limit the assault on our civil liberties.

Unlike both Obama and Romney he does not support government run, socialized medicine either.

As you can see, Gary Johnson may not quite be Ron Paul, but he's close enough and would be a far better choice for America than his two major party opponents.

With this in mind, the next time someone tells you that you are wasting you vote on Gary Johnson and that you need to vote for the "lesser of two evils", you can let them know that they are really the ones that are wasting their vote and that they should instead vote for the "lesser of two goods".

Editor's Note: This in no way should be construed as a knock against Gary Johnson.

While I supported Ron Paul as the GOP candidate after Governor Johnson left the GOP race, he was my preferred choice from the beginning and even Ron Paul is on record as saying that Gary Johnson is wonderful and would have had his support has he decided against a run in 2012.

Video - Gary Johnson's History

Gary Johnson 2012

Gary Johnson At 3% In Latest CNN/ORC Nevada Poll

I can't imagine that the Johnson Campaign is too happy that Virgil Goode is polling ahead of them, but hopefully Gary Johnson's stop at UNLV on Wednesday as part of his college tour will garner some press and raise his profile in the Silver State.

CNN/ORC International survey

Q Suppose that the presidential candidates on the ballot in your state included Barack Obama as the Democratic Party’s candidate, Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate, Gary Johnson as the Libertarian party candidate and Virgil Goode, as the Independent American party candidate, who would you be more likely to vote for?

Sept. 7-9, 2012 Obama Romney Goode Johnson None No Opinion Likely Voters 47% 44% 4% 3% 1% 1% Registered Voters 48% 41% 5% 3% 2% 1

Gary Johnson, National Polls And The Election

Well, we're getting into the home stretch for November and while Gary Johnson may not win the Presidency (thanks to the media blackout and exclusion from many polls), we are able to gauge where he may finish in the race based on the national polls that have included him.

Now, I'm a firm believer that national polls are meaningless since that is not how the election works, but it does give a good idea of a candidates national level of support.

In September, three major polls have included Governor Johnson; Zogby (4.3%), CNN (4%) and Reason-Rupe (6%). Doing a little math, we see that Gary Johnson is polling at 4.8%, so we have a baseline.

Let's look at the two of the most notable 3rd party candidates since the 1980 election; John Anderson in 1980 and Ralph Nader in 2000. (I've omitted Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 since neither campaign was typical and Perot had the money to compete on an even footing with the Republiocrats)

At this point of the 1980 campaign, according to Gallup, independent John Anderson was polling at 14% among likely voters. A few weeks later, he dropped to 9% and in the last pre-election poll was at 7%, ultimately finishing at 6.6% (5,719,850 votes) or a drop of 53% in his level of support. (It should be noted that in the 1980 election, Libertarian candidate Ed Clark received what is still the highest Presidential vote total for the party with 921,128 votes or 1%)

In 2000, at this point of of the race, Green Party candidate Ralph Nader was in the 2-3% range with likely voters, also according to Gallup. In October he peaked at 5% and in their last poll before the election sat at 4%, finishing with 2.74% (2,882,955 votes), which was within his September numbers.

So, what does this tell us about where Gary Johnson will finish?

My thought is that Governor Johnson will finish about where he is now with somewhere around 4%, giving him in the neighborhood of 5 million votes, based on 2008 turnout.

My reasoning for this is because in 1980 John Anderson, even with his appearance in the debate with Ronald Reagan (Carter sat out) and his high level of media coverage, he had pretty much the same base as Reagan and once it became clear that Reagan was the stronger "anybody but Carter" candidate, his supporters left him in droves and he had nowhere to go but down.

I see Gary Johnson's campaign being closer to Ralph Nader's. Nader had a fairly strong base among liberals who were unhappy with Clinton's move toward the center and saw a Gore Presidency as Clinton's third term. He was also excluded from the Presidential Debates and while he had a good measure of support within some popular circles, he did not get much lame stream media coverage.

I believe that Governor Johnson will maintain his base with those who are unhappy with the Republiocrat candidates as well as disaffected Ron Paul supporters. Johnson's fiscally conservative, socially tolerant message also resonates well with independent voters who want Leviathan out of both their wallets and bedrooms.

That's my call and I'm sticking with it. In 45 days you can come back and let me know if I am a genius or an idiot.

Gary Johnson At 6% In Reason-Rupe National Poll

Reason

A new national Reason-Rupe poll of likely voters finds President Barack Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney 48 percent to 43 percent in the presidential race. When undecided voters are asked which way they are leaning Obama’s lead over Romney grows to 52-45.

President Obama holds large advantages among women (53-37), African-Americans (92-2) and Hispanics (71-18). Fifty-two percent of likely voters view Obama favorably, while 45 view him unfavorably. In contrast, 49 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable view of Mitt Romney and 41 percent have a favorable view of him.

In a three-way presidential race, Obama drops to 49 percent among likely voters and Romney falls to 42 percent as the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson gets six percent of support. Johnson is already on the presidential ballot in 47 states.

The Reason-Rupe poll conducted live interviews with 1,006 adults, including 787 likely voters, via landlines (602) and cell phones (404) from September 13-17, 2012. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.8 percent, 4.3 percent for the likely voters sample. Princeton Survey Research Associates International executed the Reason-Rupe poll.

Q If the 2012 presidential election were held TODAY and the candidates were Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Democrats, and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan the Republicans, and Gary Johnson and Jim Gray the Libertarians, for whom would you vote?

Barack Obama/Joe Biden...........49%
Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan.............40%
Gary Johnson/Jim Gray...............6%
Vote for someone else (VOL.)......1%
Would not vote"(VOL.)..less than 1%
Don't Know/Refused....................4%

Total......................................100%

Via Memeorandum

Gary Johnson And Jim Gray Sue The Commission On Presidential Debates

If you believe Gary Johnson and Jim Gray should be included in the debates, sign the petition.

Examiner.com

On Friday, the Libertarian presidential ticket of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and former California Superior Court judge Jim Gray filed an anti-trust lawsuit in U.S. District court to ask the court to force the Commission on Presidential Debates to include all presidential candidates who have enough ballot access to have a mathematical chance of winning the presidential election to have a spot on the debate stage.

The lawsuit accuses the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and Commission on Presidential Debates of violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, which prohibits certain business activities that reduce competition, and requires the federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of being in violation. The relevant part of the law is Section 2, which reads:

“Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.”

If the lawsuit is successful, this year's CPD-sponsored debates will either expand to include the Libertarian candidates as well as the Green Party ticket of Massachusetts physician Jill Stein and Pennsylvania anti-poverty advocate Cheri Honkala, or be canceled.

Via Memeorandum

John Stossel - "I Like Gary Johnson"

All political candidates call themselves freedom-lovers, but they are not. Neither major party really opposes government control of the economy or of our personal lives. I'm a libertarian because I see the false choice offered by political left and right: Democrats talk about personal liberty; Republicans talk about economic freedom. But what they do once in power belies their words.

I say we're best off if government just leaves us alone to our peaceful cooperation with whomever we please. Let politicians advocate moral behavior. Let them give to charities. But leave government -- which is physical force -- out of it.

That's why I like Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of New Mexico. He's the Libertarian Party candidate for president. As governor, Johnson vetoed 750 bills, and yet he got re-elected in that blue state.

I asked Johnson what it means to be a libertarian.

"Fiscally responsible, socially accepting ... more liberal than Obama on several issues, more conservative than Romney on several issues."

Johnson proposes to cut federal spending by more than 43 percent:

"Balance the federal budget now. I think that unless we do that, we're going to find ourselves in a monetary collapse."

To do that, he'd go where the money is. He'd cut the big programs that will soon bankrupt us. That includes Medicare. Conventional wisdom says what he's proposing is cruel and, for a politician, suicidal.

"Look, we've got to slash Medicare spending. If we don't, we're going to find ourselves with no health care whatsoever. Medicaid, same thing. Military spending, same thing."

The left claims that without social spending, people would starve in the streets!

"This is the exact reaction that I got as governor of New Mexico, having vetoed all that legislation. ... Kids were going to starve, all the worst things were going to happen, and none of them did. And I got re-elected."

Who would decide what part of Medicare to cut?

"Give this up to the states. Fifty laboratories of innovation and best practice ... (instead of) Washington top-down, Washington-knows-best -- that's what has us in the situation that we're in right now."

Johnson also says, "End the wars." Won't a pullout of our troops mean the terrorists win?

"We have hundreds of millions of enemies ... that, but for our military interventions, we would not otherwise have. So let's take military spending back to 2003 spending levels. Start out with the premise that we should provide ourselves with a strong national defense. But 'defense' here is the operative word. Not 'offense' and not 'nation-building.' We're building roads, schools, bridges, highways and hospitals in other countries, and we have those needs here in this country."

In one of Johnson's campaign ads, he compares the U.S. Constitution to the U.S. tax code.

"One is simple and about equal rights for all. The other is extremely complex and anything but equal rights for all. It's crony capitalism in a nutshell. It's the root of evil. Individuals, groups, corporations pay for loopholes. Both parties sell those loopholes. Eliminate the IRS. Abolish income tax (and) corporate tax."

How will government get money?

"With a national consumption tax. I'm embracing the Fair Tax. ... Adopting the Fair Tax would issue pink slips to half of Washington lobbyists."

Johnson would also legalize marijuana.

"Control it, regulate it, tax it."

I like Johnson's message: Let no one be coerced by government beyond the small amount needed to fund a limited government that keeps us safe. Do not let government forcibly take other people's money. When in doubt, leave it out -- or rather, leave it to the market and other voluntary institutions.

But sadly that's not how most people think. Most people think problems are things that are solved by laws. They assume it's just the laziness or stupidity of the "other" side's politicians that prevents government from solving our problems.

But government rarely solves problems. Government is inefficient. There's almost nothing government can do that we cannot do better as free individuals and groups of individuals working together voluntarily.

Without big government, our possibilities are limitless.

Copyright 2012, Creators Syndicate Inc.

Gary Johnson At 4% In Virginia In Latest Washington Post Poll

Washington Post

Q: (AMONG REGISTERED VOTERS) How about if the presidential election were being held today and the candidates were {(Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Democrats), (Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, the Republicans)}, {(Gary Johnson and James Gray, from the Libertarian Party), (Virgil Goode and Jim Clymer, from the Constitution Party), and (Jill Stein and Cheri Honkala, from the Green Party)}, for whom would you vote?

Obama............48%
Romney...........40%
Johnson...........4%
Goode.............2%
Stein.............1%
Other/No opinion..5%

Via Memeorandum

Gary Johnson Calls For Withdrawal From The Middle East

Photo by Robotclaw666

The choice is clear, if you want to end Leviathan's overseas intervention, Gary Johnson will be your Anti-War President.

Allentown (PA) Morning Call

Little-known presidential candidate Gary Johnson gave an answer that would create a media firestorm if delivered by Barack Obama or Mitt Romney: the United States should get out of the Middle East.

Johnson, a Libertarian who is on 47 state ballots and fighting petition challenges in the other three, including Pennsylvania, suggested that the U.S. presence in the Middle East is abetting unrest in the region.

"Get out of these embassies, just plain get out," Johnson said in an interview Monday with the Allentown Morning Call. "Right now, they seem to be the focal point for being able to express that dissension.”

"What are U.S. interests when it comes to the Middle East? If it's keeping us safe, I would argue that our military interventions are what are keeping us unsafe. We're over there and innocent people are dying. When we wag our tail, there's a consequence of that tail wag."

Gary Johnson At 2% In New PPP Virginia Poll

Nice to see PPP Polls finally including all the major candidates. Their last Virginia poll, released in August, only included Virgil Goode as a 3rd part choice. He had 4% support then.

Q If the candidates for President this fall were
Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt
Romney, Libertarian Gary Johnson,
Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode, and
Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who would
you vote for?

Barack Obama..... 49%
Mitt Romney...... 45%
Gary Johnson...... 2%
Virgil Goode...... 1%
Jill Stein........ 1%
Undecided......... 3%

I would have thought that Governor Johnson would do a little better, but he is only polling 4% with Independents, a segment where he has strongest appeal.

The good news is that Johnson is doing well with 18-29 year old respondents, 7%, and they are by far the most enthusiastic age group polled with 72% saying they are "very excited". This could be in part due to the "Ron Paul Effect" with Ron Paul's young supporters now turning to Governor Johnson as their liberty candidate.

Via Memeorandum

Video - John Stossel Interviews Gary Johnson 9/14

If the video doesn't load, click the link below.

Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson on his efforts to make it to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Latest From PPP Polls In Montana - Gary Johnson At 7%

PPP Polls

Q If the candidates for President this year were
Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt
Romney, and Libertarian Gary Johnson, who
would you vote for?

Mitt Romney..... 46%
Barack Obama.... 43%
Gary Johnson..... 7%
Undecided........ 5%

Down 1% from May but he is still staying respectable this late in the race.

And, Montana voters still don't know who Gary Johnson is, with 78% of respondents having no opinion of him. He fares best among Independents with only 70% having no opinion while he is more unknown with Democrats (83% no opinion) than Republicans (81% no opinion).

Independents are also where the former New Mexico Governor is strongest, getting 14% support. He also hurts Romney the most in this group as the former Massachusetts Governor loses 9% support versus 4% for Obama when Johnson is included in the matchup.

Yet again, this is another poll that shows that Gary Johnson will be a factor in this race as when he is included in a poll, he puts the race between Barry and Mittens within the margin of error.

Is it any wonder that the GOP is working so hard to keep him of the ballot and both parties do not want him in the debates?

UPDATED 9/14 Who's Afraid Of Gary Johnson? Mittens And The GOP Part II (Pennsylvania)

EDITOR'S NOTE 9/14 - Gary Johnson is one step closer to being on the ballot in Pennsylvania as a three-judge panel of the state Commonwealth Court ruled 2-1 that 9,000 disputed signatures are valid.

If this ruling stand, Gary Johnson should be on the ballot in the Keystone State as he only needs 620 of the remaining 13,000 to reach the required total of 20,601 to achieve a ballot spot.

Both sides are appealing the decision; the GOP wants this decision reversed and the Libertarian Party wants an additional 1,500 signatures certified where the signees omitted the year from the date that they wrote.

We'll bring you the final outcome when it happens.

Back in June, we reported that the Michigan GOP was trying to keep Gary Johnson of the ballot in Mitt's home state because he was THREE MINUTES late in filing his paperwork to be removed from their primary ballot.

Well, now the Pennsylvania GOP is up to the same shenanigans and trying to keep Gary Johnson off the ballot in the Keystone State as reported by Eric Boehm of the Pennsylvania Independent

The Pennsylvania Republican Party has already booted one third-party candidate from the state’s presidential ballot [Virgil Goode] and is making life difficult for Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson.

Republican voters acting on behalf of the state GOP this week officially challenged the signatures submitted by Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, who is seeking an equal place on the November ballot beside major party candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

Ron Nielson, senior adviser for the Johnson campaign, told PA Independent on Wednesday that the campaign submitted more than 49,000 signatures — more than twice the amount required to gain access to the ballot in Pennsylvania.

The signatures will be challenged in Commonwealth Court.

In order to qualify for the ballot in Pennsylvania, the major parties have to submit only 2,000 signatures, but third party candidates had to collect more than 20,000 this year.

Ballot access is the primary reason that 3rd party candidates have so much trouble getting in office and breaking the stranglehold that the Republicrats have on elected position.

Because they control the ballot access rules they make it as difficult as possible for 3rd parties to get on. In many states the signature requirement for a 3rd party or Independent candidate is 10 times greater than that of the two major parties. That means that these candidates need to spend more of their limited resources just to get a seat at the table. And if they are lucky enough to jump through that hoop they are summarily excluded from any debates.

Gary Johnson scares the GOP.

They realize that they have a milquetoast candidate that is Obama-lite on many of the important issues. They know that if Gary Johnson gets a fair vetting by the American people, conservatives will come to see that he has a strong track record of fiscal reform from his two terms as Governor of New Mexico.

They can huff and they can puff but in Gary Johnson they have found someone who will not back down.

UPDATED 9/14 Who's Afraid Of Gary Johnson? Mittens And The GOP Part IV (Oklahoma)

EDITOR'S NOTE 8/31 - The Oklahoma Americans Elect Party has sued the State Board of Elections and a hearing before a State Supreme Court referee will take place on September 5th.

Keep your fingers crossed, the Oklahoma Americans Elect Party has a pretty compelling case.

EDITOR'S NOTE 9/14 - The Oklahoma State Supreme Court has issued a decision, refusing to force the Oklahoma State Election Board to put Gary Johnson on the ballot as the Americans Elect candidate.

Unless there is some last minute miracle, Gary Johnson will not be on the ballot in Oklahoma.

Well, there's no proof that the GOP had a hand in this one but, here we go again.

On the heals of the campaign's victory in Iowa, barring an appeal, and the looming battle in Pennsylvania along with a tough road to hoe in Michigan, the Oklahoma State Election Board removed the Johnson/Gray ticket from The Sooner State's ballot as the Americans Elect Party candidates.

Since the Libertarian Party failed to achieve ballot status in one of the toughest, if not the toughest, states to gain access as a 3rd party, local officers of Americans Elect helped the former New Mexico Governor win the party's nod at their state convention.

Now, however, since the national board of Americans Elect has pulled the plug on fielding any national candidates for President, the Oklahoma State Election Board got involved and issued a 20 page opinion on August 17th which was kept secret from the Americans Elect Party state officers.

In a statement issued to CapitolBeatOK Wednesday morning by Paul Ziriax, secretary of the state Election Board, Ziriax said,

“You have previously asked me about the conflicting instructions the State Election Board received from the Directors of the Americans Elect party and a local group claiming to on act on behalf of the Americans Elect party. (The Board of Directors of the party instructs that the Americans Elect party will not field any candidates for President or Vice President, while the local group instructs that the party has chosen candidates for President and Vice President – the same candidates chosen by the Libertarian Party in other states.)”

This is of course crap but it should come as no surprise since the Republiocrats will do anything to shut out any other party that wants a seat at the table.

We'll keep you updated on any new developments.

Gary Johnson Releases Statement Regarding Libya Attack

Gary Johnson 2012

Governor Gary Johnson released the following statement regarding the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya:

It is tragic when Americans serving their country are murdered, and we both mourn their loss and honor their service.

Part of honoring that service is to ask the obvious question: What U.S. interest is being served by putting our people – and our money – in places where U.S. personnel can be killed by extremists over a video? We launched millions of dollars worth of missiles to bring down Gaddafi, and this is what we get. We hail and encourage the outbreak of an Arab Spring in Egypt, send them billions of dollars we can’t afford, — and our embassy is breached and our flag desecrated.

In Afghanistan, we continue to put our troops in harm’s way 10 years after our post-9/11 mission was complete. Why?

The airwaves are filled today with political chest-pounding and calls for decisive action. The most decisive and prudent action we can take today is to stop trying to manage governments and peoples on the other side of the globe who don’t want to be managed, get our people out of impossible situations that have no direct U.S. interest, and immediately stop sending money to regimes who clearly cannot or will not control their own countries.

Protecting America with a strong national defense and a rational foreign policy is our leaders’ most basic responsibility. But let us not confuse national security with senseless intervention where our interests are clearly not being served.

Video - CNN: Gary Johnson Could Be A Spoiler

Ya think?

New York Times Calls Gary Johnson A "Crucial Factor" In 2012 Race

NYT

There is one factor in the campaign that has yet to get much attention but could influence the outcome: third-party candidacies in many states, most notably that of former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee.

Mr. Johnson, who argued for free markets, fewer wars and the legalization of marijuana during his brief run for the 2012 Republican nomination, hardly shows up in polls. But he is on the ballot in more than three dozen states and is trying for more.

Mr. Johnson shares some of the cross-party appeal of Representative Ron Paul of Texas, who complimented him publicly last week. Advisers said Mr. Johnson’s potential for cutting into Mr. Romney’s support was greatest in Florida, where Mr. Romney is basically tied with Mr. Obama, but could also have an impact in Arizona, Nevada, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

They said Mr. Johnson’s potential to eat into Mr. Obama’s support was greatest in Colorado, Iowa, New Mexico, Oregon and Wisconsin.

Republican officials have already tried to challenge Mr. Johnson’s place on the ballot or are trying to in states including Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Many of the challenges have failed — courts recently rejected efforts to throw him off the ballot in Virginia — and Roger Stone, a Republican Party veteran who is advising Mr. Johnson, said he was optimistic that Mr. Johnson would qualify in all 50 states.

Gravis Marketing/Capitol Correspondent Poll - Gary Johnson At 4.5% In Ohio

4.5% in an important swing state for Gary Johnson, not bad.

What these polls are all telling us is that even with the mediot blackout the former New Mexico Governor is going to have an impact on the 2012 race for the White House.

Is it any wonder that Mittens and the GOP had thoughts to keep him off the ballot in the Buckeye State?

Milquetoast Mitt needs every vote that he can muster in what should have been a can't-lose race for the GOP, but "Obama-lite" Romney is just another in the line of wet shit sandwiches from the Republican elite.

Gravis Marketing/Capitol Correspondent Poll

Gary Johnson At 4% In New CNN National Poll

Yes, you are reading that right, CNN actually included Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson, along with the Green Party's Jill Stein, in their latest national poll.

Granted they omitted both 3rd party candidates from the accompanying story, but you have to crawl before you can walk and this is definitely a good start.

[The cynic in me knows that the reasoning behind this is that CNN knew they would poll low and the Commission on Presidential Debates can point to it as justification to exclude 3rd Party candidates from the debates.]

Q Suppose that the Presidential candidates on the ballot in your state included Barack Obama as the Democratic Party's candidate, Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate, Gary Johnson as the Libertarian party candidate, and Jill Stein as the Green party candidate, who would you be more likely to vote for? (RANDOM ORDER)

Sept. 7-9, 2012 Obama Romney Johnson Stein None No Opinion Likely Voters 51% 43% 3% 1% 1% 1% Registered Voters 50% 41% 4% 2% 1% *

Of course, national polls are worthless because that is not the way the Electoral College works.

That said, the most interesting cross tab in the CNN poll is that when Gary Johnson is included he pulls 9% among likely Independent voters. This kills Romney's support with this group from 54% head to head with Obama to 46% in the 4 way. Obama is at 40% in both matchups.

Another place where Governor Johnson hurts Romney is among likely moderate voters. Head to head against Obama, Romney has 37% support. When Gary Johnson is added to the mix, his 6% drops the former Massachusetts Governor down to 32%; while the President holds steady at 59% in both.

With the two major party candidates being secure among their respective bases, Obama with Democrats and liberals and Romney with Republicans and conservatives, this race is going to be won or lost in the middle.

But what lies in the middle is roughly 30% of the electorate and this group is typically underrepresented in most polling.

With this in mind, is it any wonder that the Republiocrats do not want Gary Johnson in the debates? This is also the reason that the GOP is working so hard to challenge Gary Johnson's ballot status, especially in key swing states that Romney must win to get elected.

The establishment could be in for a big surprise come election day when Gary Johnson could out-perform his poll numbers by a large margin. This will be especially true if he manages to get any semblance of fair media coverage.

The middle is fed up with the partisan BS and could be just angry enough to pull the lever on November 6th for Gary Johnson.

Just you wait and see.

Via Memeorandum

Gary Johnson At 7% In Albuquerque Journal New Mexico Poll

Albuquerque Journal

The presidential race in New Mexico may be more competitive than national pundits and polls have suggested.

According to a Journal Poll, President Barack Obama appears to have a small lead over Republican Mitt Romney in New Mexico, but Obama has not topped 50 percent, and 8 percent of voters were undecided in a close race with nine weeks remaining.

Obama drew support from 45 percent of the New Mexico voters surveyed between Sept. 3 and Sept. 6, while Romney stayed within striking distance at 40 percent.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, who also will be on the Nov. 6 ballot, had 7 percent support. Johnson subtracted almost equal numbers of votes from Obama and Romney, according to the poll, meaning his third-party candidacy was not more damaging to one than the other.

The Journal Poll was conducted by Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque. The scientific sample is based on land line and cellphone interviews statewide with 667 likely voters. The margin of error for the full, statewide sample is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The margin of error grows for subsamples.

Via Memeorandum

Zogby National Poll - Gary Johnson Polls 4.3% Against Obama And Romney

Libertarian Party Blog

Here are a few things the new Zogby Poll reveals:

10.1% of Independent Voters plan to cast their ballots for Libertarian Presidential nominee Gov Gary Johnson

7.5% of Hispanic voters plan to vote for him

7.0% of 18-29 year old voters plan to vote for him

5.9% of 30-49 year old voters plan to vote for him

Question 206 on the last four pages (labeled pages 17-20) in the poll (JZA Analytics) breakdowns support for the 3 candidates.

Video - Gary Johnson's Speech at DNC 2012 With NCNORML

Libertarian Party Presidential candidate Gary Johnson delivers a stirring speech when North Carolina NORML held a rally at the DNC2012.

Heavy rain erupted but did not dampen Governor Johnson's spirit.

Support Gary Johnson and Legalize Freedom!

UPDATED 9/6 Who's Afraid Of Gary Johnson? Mittens And The GOP Part I (Michigan)

EDITOR'S NOTE 9/6 - Today was the first setback for the Johnson campaign as a US District Court in Michigan dismissed the Libertarian Party's lawsuit, denying Governor Johnson a place on the Wolverine State's ballot.

Instead, former officer of the national Libertarian Party and delegate to the national Libertarian Party convention, Gary E. Johnson of Texas, may be on in his place.

An explanation of the decision is due on 9/7.

We'll keep you updated on that and whether the LP decides to appeal.

Gary Johnson will be on the Michigan ballot in November; it just may not be that Gary Johnson.

You see, the former New Mexico Governor may have gotten his paperwork to withdraw from the MI GOP Primary in THREE MINUTES too late (remember NH?) and because of Michigan's "sore-loser law", Johnson may not be eligible to represent the Libertarian Party in that state.

This is all politics of course. The Michigan GOP is afraid that Mittens will lose votes to the Libertarian candidate even though polls show Johnson pull equally from both parties. After all, Mitt just barely eked out a victory in a state where his farther was once Governor.

So expect to see a suit filed by the Libertarian Party of Michigan and regardless of the outcome, expect to see Gary Johnson's name on the ballot. Whoever he may be.

Via Memeorandum

UPDATED 9/4 Who's Afraid Of Gary Johnson? Mittens And The GOP Part VI (Virginia)

EDITOR'S NOTE 9/4 - The Virginia State Board of Elections has rejected the GOP challenge and said that the Johnson campaign has met the standard of achieving 10,000 valid signatures, including at least 400 from each of the Commonwealth's 11 congressional districts and is qualified to be on the ballot.

The GOP could pursue this further in court but as of now Gary Johnson will be on the ballot in the Old Dominion.

Yup, the GOP is crying foul again, this time in Virginia.

Fortunately for the Johnson campaign, like Iowa now, their beef is with the Commonwealth if they wish to pursue legal action.

Stay tuned to the Gary Johnson Grassroots Blog for updates on whether the GOP decides to continue their frivolous "serial challenges" and add the Old Dominion to the list.

Ballot Access News

On August 22, the Virginia State Board of Elections notified the Libertarian Party of Virginia in an e-mail that the party has enough valid signatures, statewide and in each district. Furthermore, two days later, the Libertarians turned in even more signatures.

However, on August 31, an attorney representing the Republican Party of Virginia notified the Board that the party believes the vast majority of the Libertarian petition signatures are invalid. Virginia has no procedure for any outside group to challenge a finding of elections officials that a petition is sufficient. If the Virginia Republican Party wishes to dispute the finding of the Board, it must sue the Board. The Libertarians had turned in approximately 16,000 signatures. The law requires 10,000, with 400 in each U.S. House district.

UPDATED 9/4 Who's Afraid Of Gary Johnson? Mittens And The GOP Part III (Iowa)

EDITOR'S NOTE 8/29 - So the Johnson campaign had their day in court today and WON!

The Republican challenge was rejected by the Iowa Secretary of State so barring an appeal, Gary Johnson will appear on the Iowa ballot.

EDITOR'S NOTE 8/31 - Well it ain't over yet, the GOP filed an appeal to be heard on September 4th in an IA district court.

At least this time he has the Iowa Attorney General's office fighting for his right to remain on the ballot.

We'll keep you updated as the events unfold.

EDITOR'S NOTE 9/4 - Gary Johnson will be on the ballot in Iowa.

Polk County District Court Judge Arthur Gamble ruled in the Johnson campaign's favor today, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz has certified Gary Johnson will be on the ballot and the GOP has declined to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Huzzah, liberty wins today!

It's like déjà vu all over again.

First Michigan, then Pennsylvania challenged Gary Johnson's ballot status, now Mitt and the Iowa GOP are doing the same and trying to get the former New Mexico Governor off their ballot.

Well Gary Johnson is once again not backing down and intends to fight.

The GOP's tactics are simple and whether they are successful or not it causes the Johnson campaign to spend valuable, limited resources to defend these actions.

It's not bad enough that their cronies in the media have ignored him, that the pollsters refuse to include him or that the Republiocrat controlled Commission on Presidential Debates set an arbitrary bar to keep him off the stage with Mittens and Barry. No, now they want to take the very choice away from the electorate because their milquetoast candidate can't seal the deal on his own.

Yes, the GOP is shitting their britches because of Gary Johnson.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Alicia Dearn
aliciadearn@garyjohnson2012.com
858-750-5800

Joe Hunter
media@garyjohnson2012.com
801-303-7924

REPUBLICANS TRY TO KEEP LIBERTARIAN GARY JOHNSON OFF THE IOWA

BALLOT

Romney Supporters File Challenge Urging Secretary of State to Exclude Libertarian

Nominees from the Ballot in November

Jay Kramer, a Mitt Romney campaign operative from Washington D.C., filed a
challenge on Friday to keep Libertarian candidate for President, Gary Johnson, from appearing on the ballot in November. The Romney campaign hired the largest law
firm in Iowa, the Des Moines based, Nyemaster Goode PC, for the challenge, which
will be heard by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Shultz on Monday at 3 pm.

“This is clearly a set up,” said the Johnson campaign’s attorney, Alicia Dearn.
“Romney can’t beat Johnson on the debate stage, so he has resorted to cronyism.
The Libertarian Party had two thousand petition signatures and should have been
on the ballot without challenge, as they have always done in the past. But
Republican Shultz [Iowa Secretary of State] – in violation of longstanding Iowa law - rejected the petition and required the Johnson campaign to caucus at the state fair. There, the Romney campaign surveilled the Johnson campaign’s activities for the sole purpose of bringing this eleventh-hour challenge,” Dearn said.

The Romney campaign’s challenge was filed Friday afternoon and set for a hearing
on Monday afternoon. The 106-page challenge includes pictures of Johnson
supporters asking fair-goers to support having Gov. Johnson and the Libertarian
Party offered as a choice on the ballot.

The challenge claims that the state fair signatures should be thrown out because the
signers are not Libertarians. “The challenge is legally frivolous,” asserts Dearn.
“You don’t have to be a registered Libertarian to want a third choice on the ballot.
Iowans deserve to choose for themselves who to vote for, which is why Gov. Johnson
should be on the ballot and allowed to debate Romney and President Obama.
Democracy suffers when voices are silenced.”

Unlike other states, Iowa has a perfect history of allowing third-party candidates
onto the ballot and is known for its independent-minded voter. “Iowa is one of the
very few states that has never kept any general election presidential candidate off
its ballot,” said ballot access historian Richard Winger. “It is a policy that saves
money and work for elections officials, because Iowa doesn’t need to tally write-in
votes for presidential candidates when all such significant candidates are on the
ballot.”

Republicans fear that Johnson, a former Republican two-term Governor from New
Mexico, will siphon votes from Romney and create a victory for Obama. It is a claim
that Governor Johnson does not shy away from. In a YouTube video titled, A Vote for
Freedom is Never Wasted, Johnson says, “They deserve to lose your vote.” Iowa is
expected to be a battleground state this election.

According to Dearn, the Romney campaign is using similar tactics to keep Governor
Johnson off the ballot in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and is pressuring the
Commission on Presidential Debates to exclude Governor Johnson from the
televised national debates. The Romney campaign has also been accused of fraud
and bullying of Ron Paul delegates in several lawsuits throughout the country and
protests by Ron Paul supporters are expected at the Republican Party convention in
Tampa later this week. “Paul supporters were treated really badly in Iowa by the
Romney campaign,” Dearn said.

As the Libertarian candidate for President, Johnson promises to submit a balanced
budget to Congress in 2013 and to reduce wasteful spending, advocates for reducing
government intrusion into the everyday lives and liberties of Americans, supports
the Constitution, and advocates for an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Johnson will be on the ballot in all 50 states and has been qualified by the FEC for
Federal matching funds. His running mate is retired California Superior Court Judge
and former Naval officer, Jim Gray.

# # #

If you would like more information about the legal proceedings in Des Moines,
please contact Alicia Dearn at 858-750-5800, aliciadearn@garyjohnson2012.com.

If you would like more information about Governor Gary Johnson’s 2012
Presidential campaign, or to schedule and interview with Gov. Johnson or Judge
Gray, please contact Joe Hunter, 801-303-7924, media@garyjohnson2012.com or
Natalie Dicou, 801-994-0321, nataliedicou@garyjohnson2012.com. Press kits may
be found at www.garyjohnson2012.com/media.

Gary Johnson At 5% In PPP September Colorado Poll

5% isn't bad for a candidate where 79% of the people polled have no idea who he is, as the latest PPP Poll in Colorado shows. Unfortunately it's down a point from August.

Q If the candidates for President this year were
Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt
Romney, and Libertarian Gary Johnson, who
would you vote for?

Barack Obama.... 46%
Mitt Romney........ 44%
Gary Johnson........ 5%
Undecided............. 4%

The real surprise is that Governor Johnson hasn't gained any traction with his pro-marijuana stance given that Colorado's ballot question to legalize marijuana has a nine point lead.

Interestingly enough, it seems that Mitt Romney is winning over Johnson voters, along with undecideds, compared to previous polls. Romney also benefits from Johnson being in the race, with the former New Mexico taking slightly more from Obama.

Gary Johnson's fortunes could change very quickly however. Polls this early are generally based on name recognition and media coverage alone, but now that summer is over, people will focus more on the candidates and if Governor Johnson gets a boost, either by being in the debates or some other event that gains him media coverage, we could see his numbers rise.

UPDATE Challenge Withdrawn 9/1 Who's Afraid Of Gary Johnson? Mittens And The GOP Part V (Ohio)

EDITOR'S NOTE - Good news from Ohio

Protesters Kelly Mills and Cynthia Rees have withdrawn their their challenge so Gary Johnson will remain on the ballot in Ohio.

One down, five more to win but one has to wonder how many more "serial challenges" the GOP will launch

This is getting old.

With challenges to Gary Johnson's ballot status already under way in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Oklahoma, a new challenge has been filed in Ohio.

Just like in Oklahoma where the state kept the decision secret to remove Johnson from the ballot for 12 days, the Ohio challenge was filed on August 24th but the campaign was not notified until late on August 31st, the day before the long weekend, of the September 4th hearing.

These political shenanigans by the GOP are intended to suppress opposition to their milquetoast nominee Mitt "Obama-Lite" Romney by getting Governor Johnson removed from the ballot in key states where Mittens needs every vote he can muster or to bankrupt his campaign so they do not have the funds to competitively campaign.

Unlike the GOP, neither Gary Johnson nor the Libertarian Party have millions of dollars or armies of lawyers to waste on these challenges. The Johnson campaign has even issued a statement calling out the GOP for their "serial challenges" and vows to fight every one until the end.

This of course is all a steaming pile of crap as the GOP is trying to manipulate the electoral process because they know that their candidate is a loser in the vein of John McCain and Bob Dole.

Here's what you can do to help.

If you are a liberty-minded attorney who wishes to help, please contact Alicia Dearn at 858-750-5800, aliciadearn@garyjohnson2012.com. The campaign is looking for lawyers to assist in all 50 states.

If you are a liberty-minded individual, please donate what you can to the Gary Johnson 2012 campaign and let the GOP know that they cannot defeat liberty.

Video - Ron Paul On Gary Johnson "People Should Look At Him"

Former MTV VJ Kennedy interviewing Ron Paul at the GOP Convention asks him if he supports Gary Johnson.

Dr Paul's response; "I think he's wonderful and I think he's doing a good job and people should look at him and every individual should make up their own mind."

Starting at around the 4:10 mark