By Austin Cassidy on May 16, 2012

Public Policy Polling’s latest battleground state poll, conducted in New Hampshire this time, shows Barack Obama with a comfortable lead over Republican Mitt Romney. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian nominee and former New Mexico Governor, captures 7% of the vote.

The firm surveyed 1,163 New Hampshire voters from May 10th to 13th. The margin of error for the survey is +/-2.9%.

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…………………………… 51%
Mitt Romney…………………………. 38%
Gary Johnson …………………….. 7%
Undecided……………………… 4%

The survey also reveals that Johnson captures 13% of those who self-identify as “very conservative” and 12% of registered independent voters. Most encouraging, Johnson’s support among voters under the age of 30 is at 17%, which puts him just 10-points behind Mitt Romney.

Other recent surveys have had Johnson at 15% in New Mexico and 8% in Montana.

Uncovered Politics

With his name slated to be on every state ballot in the country in November, Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is an important voice – bringing bold new ideas to the table that appeal to voters across the political spectrum.

Johnson, a Republican who served as governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, is running on a platform that includes slashing government spending to balance the federal budget by 2013, ending wars the U.S. in involved in, and drug reform — beginning with the legalization of marijuana but extending all the way to the war on drugs, drug policy, relations with Latin America, and even law enforcement policies and priorities– issues that neither of the two major candidates President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are pursuing right now.

Having received the Libertarian nomination in Las Vegas last weekend, Johnson must now cross a new threshold to ensure that his voice is heard and give these important initiatives a lot of exposure — achieving the 15 percent required by the Commission on Presidential Debates to participate.

To date, Johnson has been polling between 6 and 9 percent nationally – several points shy of what he needs.

If the two parties continue to move to the extreme left and right, and if our economic situation continues to remain bleak, it is conceivable that a fresh face emerging would find a degree of responsiveness in a political environment that is as hostile as I have ever seen.

Last weekend, voters in Greece rejected both major political parties amid a dire fiscal situation there, while a disenchanted French electorate voted out President Nicolas Sarkozy. The European elections speak to a major anti incumbency trend that is likely to have profound implications for the 2012 presidential election.

Voters across the board are unsatisfied with the current political system. Most people think that neither party is effective at solving the country’s problems, congressional ratings are at an all-time low, and support for both the Democratic and Republican parties is on the decline.

Amid this toxic political climate, a recent poll put out by Harvard’s Institute of Politics suggests Libertarian ideas are gaining traction with those age 18 to 29. Moreover, polling conducted by my firm, Douglas E. Schoen LLC, has found that there is a great deal of support for a third-party alternative to the current two-party system, and voters are receptive to voting for alternatives to the Democratic and Republican Presidential tickets in 2012.

With neither Obama nor Romney offering an overarching message that has been able to resonate with an electorate that is becoming increasingly cynical about anyone’s ability to fix this country’s ongoing, trenchant and most vexatious problems – Gary Johnson’s voice is one that needs to be heard.

Bottom line: At time of massive dissatisfaction with our political system, we need to expand rather than narrow the debate

FoxNews.Com

May 10, 2012, New York, NY – Libertarian nominee for President and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson today said he’s “disappointed” with President Obama’s position on gay marriage. Obama told ABC Wednesday he would let each individual state decide the gay marriage question instead of seeking federal protection of the right to marry. Johnson noted that more than 30 states already ban same sex marriage in one way or another.

In a statement, Johnson said, “Instead of insisting on equality as a U.S. Constitutional guarantee, the President has thrown this question back to the states. When the smoke clears, Gay Americans will realize the President’s words have gained them nothing today, and that millions of Americans in most states will continue to be denied true marriage equality . I guess the President is still more worried about losing Ohio, Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia than he is in doing the right thing. What is the President saying — that he would eat a piece of cake at a gay wedding if the state the happy couple lives in allows it ?. Where is the leadership? While I commend him for supporting the concept of gay marriage equality, I am profoundly disappointed in the President.”

May 9, 2012, Santa Fe, NM – Libertarian nominee for President and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson today called for the Obama Administration to “make up its mind” when it comes to supporting marriage equality for all Americans, citing Vice-President Biden’s weekend comments appearing to support gay marriage and White House efforts since to clarify those comments.

Johnson, who supports gay marriage equality, received the Libertarian Party nomination for President Saturday, and will be on the ballot in all 50 states. “The President is playing cruel, cynical politics with a deeply personal issue for many Americans,” said Johnson. “He should quit trying to have it both ways and take a stand.”

In a statement released Wednesday, Johnson said, “Gay marriage equality is not a trick question, and we shouldn’t be getting trick answers from the President of the United States. Gay Americans deserve better than a President who winks and nods and tries to convince them that he will protect their rights, but refuses to emerge from the closet and support one of the most basic rights – the right to equal access to marriage. And frankly, even opponents of gay marriage deserve the truth from the White House. Is the President for it or against it? Right now, the Administration is trying to have it both ways”

“For a few brief minutes over the weekend, supporters of marriage equality were given a glimmer of hope when the Vice-President expressed ‘comfort’ with gay marriage. I’m sure the White House was delighted to offer that glimmer. But within hours, they were walking it back. And Monday, President Obama sends his spokesperson out to say there is no ‘update’ of the President’s position that marriage is between a man and a woman, but repeats that Obama opposes ‘efforts to repeal rights for same-sex couples’.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means and I suspect no one else does either,” Johnson said. “We have a President saying he won’t support marriage equality, but if it somehow becomes legal, he won’t support repealing it? And a Vice-President saying he’s ‘comfortable’ with it? That is not leadership. That is politics, and on such a deeply personal issue for many Americans, it is cruel politics.

“Government exists to protect civil liberties and constitutional rights – not to pick and choose among those Americans who should have those rights. Denying same-sex couples the right to marry under the law is government-sanctioned discrimination. Unlike President Obama, I am not afraid to state, without a wink or a nod, that the government has no right to tell us who we can marry or not marry.

That right.

According to Gallup, 50% of those polled believe in marriage equality as does Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson. When asked recently about his position, Gov Johnson stated flat out that he supports gay rights, “There’s no question unabashedly let’s have marriage equality now, gay rights are constitutionally guaranteed.”

Now this stand may not go over well in conservative circles but Johnson is also the only candidate who will be on the ballot in November who promises to cut spending by 43% and submit a balanced budget during his first year in office, if elected.

With a Gary Johnson Presidency we can have it both ways; a President who is fiscally responsible and socially tolerant. Imagine, a government that is out of our wallets and out of our bedrooms.

The exact things that this Republic was built on.

The Libertarian Patriot

Says he “crushes” Romney and Obama on civil liberties. Hard to disagree on that one

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson said on Steve Cochran’s radio show yesterday that he will “be unequivocally supporting gay marriage” and criticized both President Obama and Mitt Romney for their records on the issue.
“I think I do better than Obama on civil liberties, I think I crush him when it comes to dollars and cents,” Johnson said. “I think I do a lot bettrer than Romney on dollars and cents but I think I crush him on civil liberties.”
Asked if he was the best candidate on gay marriage, Johnson said “There’s no question unabashedly let’s have marriage equality now, gay rights are constitutionally guaranteed.”
A Johnson presidency would ensure a “libertarian president who’s going to challenge Democrats to fix things when it comes to civil liberties and then get a libertarian president who’s going to challenge the Republicans on dollars and cents, something they’re horrible on.”
Johnson, a potential spoiler in the race with polling as high as 6 percent against Romney and Obama, has become more aggressive in his attacks on the mainstream candidates lately. Last weekend he slammed Republicans for the exit of Romney’s gay spokesman Richard Grenell, saying “That intolerance is why the world vilifies Republicans.”

Watch Video on BuzzFeed

May 5, 2012, Las Vegas NV – Gaining more than 70% of the vote on the first ballot, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson Saturday earned the Libertarian Party nomination for President of the United States. As the Libertarian nominee, Johnson is expected to be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Accepting the nomination, Johnson said, “Millions of Americans want and deserve the opportunity to vote for a candidate in November who will get us out of the war in Afghanistan immediately, truly cut federal spending, end the failed war on drugs, repeal the Patriot Act, and support marriage equality. I am excited to offer that option: A proven fiscal conservative, a proven defender of civil liberties, and an advocate for social tolerance.”

Jim Gray, retired Judge of the California Superior Court, was nominated as the party’s candidate for Vice-President. Gary was endorsed by Governor Johnson.

The Libertarian National convention is being held in Las Vegas, NV, and concludes Sunday, May 6.

May 2, 2012 | By Steve Terrell |

Former Gov. Gary Johnson is on the verge of winning the Libertarian Party’s nomination for president, but he’s reluctant to claim victory yet.

“I wouldn’t take anything for granted yet,” he said of the Libertarian nominating process, which takes place Saturday at the party’s national convention in Las Vegas, Nev. But a moment later, he added, “It does look good.”

Johnson has even chosen his preferred running mate — Jim Gray, a retired California superior court judge, who, like Johnson, is a longtime opponent of marijuana laws. Gray is the only announced Libertarian candidate for vice president.

But even if Johnson wins the Libertarian nod this weekend, he acknowledged his path won’t be easy. In an interview Wednesday, Johnson said any hope of being competitive with Democratic President Barack Obama and likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney in November depends on him being included in the presidential debates in October.

But because of the steep standards set by the organization that organizes the debates, that’s not easy for any third-party candidate. The last to be included in the debates was Ross Perot in 1992.

Johnson said if he can get on the stage with Obama and Romney, he would have a shot at winning. But as Johnson himself said, “That’s a big ‘if.’ ”

The two-term governor, who had been a lifelong Republican, left the GOP early this year after months of being ignored and excluded during his frustrating campaign to win the Republican nomination.

He’d assumed that his reputation as a tight-fisted, small-government, small-taxes advocate who was not afraid to veto hundreds of bills would appeal to GOP primary voters.

However, his libertarian positions on gay marriage, abortion and drug-law reform didn’t catch on with socially conservative Republicans. Plus, Ron Paul, himself a former Libertarian Party presidential nominee, announced his candidacy shortly after Johnson entered the Republican race. The better-known Paul was invited to all the GOP debates, while Johnson was only allowed to participate in two.

But — assuming he’s the Libertarian nominee — being excluded from debates could become Johnson’s biggest problem again.

According to the website of the Commission on Presidential Debates, candidates included “must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning a majority vote in the Electoral College, and have a level of support of at least 15 percent of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations’ most recent publicly reported results at the time of the determination.”

Getting on state ballots shouldn’t be a problem for Libertarians. Several times in the past they’ve been on the ballot in all 50 states. “West Virginia has the most impediments,” Johnson said.

But the polling requirement is another story.

So far, the only national polling organization that has included Johnson as a third choice is Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina-based company affiliated with the Democratic Party. In late March, a nationwide Public Policy Polling survey found Johnson taking 7 percent of the vote, (with Obama at 46 percent and Romney at 39 percent).

Johnson said he believes that if he continues polling at least 6 percent or 7 percent in the Public Policy Polling surveys, other national polling organizations will begin including him. “If you’re a reputable pollster, you couldn’t ignore that,” he said.

The former governor also said he could get a boost from those who supported Paul in the primaries when the Texas congressman ends his campaign. While Johnson said he does not expect to be endorsed by Paul himself, he said, “What happens to Ron Paul supporters? I believe they’ll find me to be a very credible alternative.”

But will Johnson be able to raise his poll numbers up to 15 percent? Public Policy Polling is doubtful. “I doubt Johnson will really get anywhere close to 7 percent in the general [election],” said the company’s blog in March after publishing the poll showing Johnson at that level.

In its 40-year history, the Libertarian Party only once received more than 1 percent of the national popular vote. The party has never carried a state. The sole electoral vote it ever received was in 1972, when a dissident Richard Nixon elector from Virginia cast his ballot for Libertarian candidate John Hospers. (That elector, Roger McBride, was the Libertarian presidential candidate four years later.)

Lonna Atkeson, a political science professor at The University of New Mexico, said support for third parties typically dwindles the closer you get to Election Day. She expects the same thing to happen with Johnson. “I bet he doesn’t get more than 5 percent of the vote [in New Mexico],” she said.

A late April Public Policy Polling survey of New Mexico voters found Johnson getting 15 percent of the vote in a three-way race. (Obama was supported by 48 percent of those polled, while Romney had 35 percent.) But Johnson’s numbers have declined here in more recent polls. In December, 23 percent of New Mexico voters said they’d vote for Johnson for president.

Atkeson said third parties losing steam is mainly due to “institutional design,” or the fact that in most states, including New Mexico, the Electoral College vote is winner-take-all. Many voters, therefore, are afraid that if they vote for a third-party candidate who is closest to them in ideology, it could damage the major-party candidate who’s ideology is not quite as close to their own and help elect the candidate furthest away from their political leanings.

Also, people predominantly vote for a particular party, Atkeson said. Throughout the campaign, Democrats and Republicans constantly remind people why they are members of their party. “There’s a lot of emphasis on partisanship,” she said. “Campaigns remind people where their self-interest is.”

Johnson said Wednesday he’s not concerned about the fact his New Mexico number shrank in Public Policy Polling’s latest poll. “Is that last poll correct? Or is a correction of the previous poll? I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it at this point, just like I wouldn’t party all night long if the number was bigger now.”

Historically, third parties haven’t played much of a role in New Mexico presidential politics. The best showing of a third-party candidate was in 1912 — the first year New Mexico became a state. That year, Theodore Roosevelt, running on the Progressive or “Bull Moose” ticket, won 16.9 percent of the vote. That was well behind Roosevelt’s national showing of 27 percent.

The Bull Moose vote in the state nearly was matched 80 years later when Reform Party candidate Perot won 16.1 percent of New Mexico’s popular vote in 1992.

Santa Fe New Mexico .com

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

May 2, 2012, Las Vegas NV – The Libertarian Party is holding its 2012 National Convention May 2-6 in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the convention, the party will select its nominees for President and Vice-President of the United States. Those nominees will be on the November presidential ballot in all 50 states.

The convention is be held at the Red Rock Resort, 11011 Charleston Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89135. It convenes Wednesday, May 2, and concludes Sunday, May 6. Nominees for President and Vice-President will be elected on Saturday, May 5. The complete convention schedule can be found at: 2012 Libertarian National Convention.

Information regarding media credentials is available from the Libertarian National Committee at Media Credentials.

Thursday evening, May 3, from 8 p.m. to midnight, Governor Gary Johnson will host a social gathering in the Veranda A and B rooms of the Red Rock Resort.

To schedule interviews or for media inquiries prior to or during the convention, please contact Joe Hunter at media@garyjohnson2012.com, or at 801.303.7924.

Governor Gary Johnson announced in December that he is seeking the Libertarian nomination for President.

Dear Convention Delegates:

In 2001 I first met Gary Johnson when he, as a sitting governor of the State of New Mexico, endorsed the original edition of my book, which is entitled “Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs” (Temple University Press, 2d edition, 2012). At the time when some governors who were ignorant of the issues were speaking nonsense about how we had to continue to put non-violent drug users in jail, and others who understood the issues were keeping silent, Governor Johnson was not only telling the truth, but he had the courage to act upon it.

In 2010 I had the honor to be on a panel about our failing educational system with Governor Johnson at “Freedom Fest” which, as you know, is a yearly forum in Las Vegas that discusses and promotes Libertarian values. At that time Gary made it clear to me that he understands the critical importance of re-introducing competition into the educational system, just as promoted by my all-time hero Dr. Milton Friedman.

Based upon those experiences, combined with the knowledge that he had actually vetoed more wasteful spending measures while governor than all other state governors combined – thus leaving New Mexico with a $1 billion surplus upon leaving office – I have been accurately quoted publicly as saying that Governor Gary Johnson is the most qualified person that I know of to be President of the United States.

Given the wrong-minded direction that our great country is now being taken by the two main political parties, I decided to take his election personally and do whatever I could for him to be elected. So when Gary asked me to be his running mate in this election, I simply had to agree. What an honor; what an opportunity; and what a necessity for our children, grandchildren and country!

I believe my background, experience and values will bring additional credibility and force to our team. I was an elected trial court judge for 25 years, federal prosecutor in Los Angeles, criminal defense attorney in the Navy JAG Corps, and Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica. I formerly held a top secret clearance in the Navy, and was the recipient of National Defense, Vietnam Service and Combat Action awards while serving my country.

In addition, I have received the “Judge of the Year” award from the business litigation section of the local bar association, honorary degrees from two law schools, and the annual judge of the year award of my county’s chapter of the Constitutional Rights Foundation bears my name. I am married with four children, including one who was adopted from Vietnam while I was in the Navy, and am a member of the United Methodist Church. My Libertarian beliefs have been documented in my book “A Voter’s Handbook: Effective Solutions to America’s Problems” (The Forum Press, 2010), as have my teachings in a fun way to our children about the importance of ethics, staying in school and making good choices in my musical, which is entitled “Americans All,” and has been performed by several high schools as well as Vanguard University of Southern California.

So I directly request your invaluable support and vote at the upcoming Libertarian Convention as I seek the nomination to be your candidate for Vice President of the United States. I am committed to do whatever it takes to pursue this goal. But please do not vote for me, or for Governor Johnson, unless you are prepared to take this election personally as well, and help us in the days and months to come. With your help, together we can get this important work done!

Yours – and Ours – in Liberty

Judge James P. Gray (Ret.)