The duo on the Libertarian Party presidential ticket ex-Arizona Gov. Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld are split on how to handle the election if their own bid doesn't take off. <\/p>\n
Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., this afternoon, Johnson was asked if he worried about being a spoiler, the name given to third party contenders like Ross Perot in 1992 and Ralph Nader in the year 2000, who were thought to have tossed the election to their less politically-aligned party. <\/p>\n
'I will lose no sleep if that is the label given to me,' Johnson said of being a 'spoiler,' saying no matter what he'd vote Libertarian in the fall. <\/p>\n
Libertarian Party presidential hopeful Gary Johnson (left) said he would vote Libertarian no matter what, while Bill Weld (right), Johnson's running mate, said he might be forced to vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton <\/p>\n
'And I will reiterate that this is the party that needs crashing,' the former Republican governor of Arizona added as he attacked the current two-party system. <\/p>\n
Johnson switched over to being a Libertarian and topped the Libertarian Party's presidential ticket in 2012 as well. <\/p>\n
Weld, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts suggested that he would be inclined to pick a Republican first, but not the current Republican at the top of the ballot. <\/p>\n
'I conceive of it as part of my role in this campaign to try and hold Mr. Trump's feet to the fire and try to have him change the manner in which he's waging his candidacy,' Weld said. <\/p>\n
'And if that did not happen, he would leave me with very little choice,' Weld added, without using Democrat Hillary Clinton's name. <\/p>\n
Today at the Press Club, the two former Republicans waging a third-party presidential bid laid out their strategy. <\/p>\n
First, they needed to be included in more national polls on the first question, rather than being an 'afterthought,' as Johnson put it, which put their legitimacy as candidates into question. <\/p>\n
'If at the very onset they would poll \"Johnson, Trump, Clinton,\" I think that would result in the 15 percent that we need to appear in the presidential debates,' Johnson noted. <\/p>\n
As the rules laid out by the Presidential Debate Commission stand, Johnson would need to receive 15 percent of the vote in five national polls before allowed onstage. <\/p>\n
Gary Johnson, the former Republican governor of Arizona who is now the Libertarian Party's presidential pick, said he wants to take on the GOP for overspending and the Democrats for their wars <\/p>\n
Gary Johnson's running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. William 'Bill' Weld, noted that their staffs would be one single entity and comprised of members of both the Republican and Democratic parties <\/p>\n
Johnson's Our America Initiative is suing for debate access for the Libertarian and Green Party as well, arguing that candidates who are on the ballot in enough states for it to be mathematically possible for them to win the White House should be allowed to participate. <\/p>\n
The Johnson-Weld ticket will be on the ballot in all 50 states, Johnson noted. <\/p>\n
Though without the debates and the exposure there, it will be difficult for the duo to cut through the cacophony of two-well funded major party candidates with major name recognition as well. <\/p>\n
And without being included in the polls, as the vicious cycles goes, there's no hope unless the lawsuit is successful of getting on the debate stage. <\/p>\n
'If Mickey Mouse were the third name in any of these polls, Mickey would be polling at 30 because Mickey is a known commodity,' Johnson noted, arguing that Americans will start moving toward the Libertarian ticket as the greater word gets out. <\/p>\n
Right now, Johnson has been polling at 6.7 percent, according to the Real Clear Politics average. <\/p>\n
What the Libertarians are selling is smaller government, more money in taxpayers' pockets and a government-out-of-the-bedroom approach on social issues, with Johnson smacking the GOP for things like cutting funding to Planned Parenthood but increasing spending on Republican lawmakers' pet programs. <\/p>\n
Democrats, Johnson argued, needed to 'end the wars' and stop giving out freebies. <\/p>\n
'Everything about the Democrat party is free,' Johnson complained, sounding like a Republican by using 'Democrat' and not 'Democratic' in his description, a common dig at the Dems. <\/p>\n
'Free everything!' he moaned. <\/p>\n
'And I think we all recognize that nothing is free and somebody pays for it,' the Libertarian added. <\/p>\n
The Libertarian Party's presidential ticket - Gary Johnson (left) and Bill Weld (right) have a steep climb in getting their names on polls and then high enough poll numbers to get into the presidential debates <\/p>\n
'And when taxes go up, that's money out of your and my pockets that we could be spending on our own lives,' he said. <\/p>\n
Johnson and Weld said they planned to govern as a team and wouldn't even hire separate staffs. <\/p>\n
'This is a two-for-one,' Johnson explained, highlighting that the country would gain the experience of two two-term governors. <\/p>\n
'In our administration appointment are not going to be based on politics,' Johnson also said, suggesting that his cabinet and staff would be made up with a mix of Democrats and Republicans. <\/p>\n
That, Weld argued, would be better for breaking up gridlock on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers and their aides 'wouldn't be suspicious of our nominees' and wouldn't be attacked politically for working on issues with them. <\/p>\n
Weld pushed out the idea that his running mate is a generally interesting man and Lincoln-esque too. <\/p>\n
'In a number of ways Gary Johnson reminds me of President Lincoln,' the former Massachusetts governor said, with No. 1 being physical prowess. <\/p>\n
'Not everyone knows this, he has been a contestant in four Iran Man triathlete world championships, he has climbed the world's highest mountain peak on each of the seven continents, climbing Mount Everest with a broken leg,' Weld said. <\/p>\n
Lincoln, the vice presidential wannabe noted, had been a world class rail-splitter. <\/p>\n
Weld also suggested that the first Republican president and the Libertarian had 'honesty' in common, even nicknaming him 'Honest Gary' for the afternoon. <\/p>\n
'I kind of hope that sticks,' he laughed. <\/p>\n
Johnson proved both those points by answering Press Club President Tommy Burr's query about when the last time was that he smoked or ingested marijuana, as the ex-governor is pro legalization and known to be a fan. <\/p>\n
'I did this about two months ago, it's been about two months,' Johnson said, noting that he wouldn't be doing any marijuana while campaigning for president nor if he made it to the White House. <\/p>\n
'I haven't had a drink in 29 years,' he also offered, saying that he wasn't into alcohol because he was so into mountain climbing. <\/p>\n
With that, the two candidates were asked how Americans would be feeling after four years of Libertarian Party rule. <\/p>\n
Johnson suggested that they'll feel like there is 'a fairness to all this.' <\/p>\n
'I might disagree, but what I see is a process where issues are looked at first and politics are last on the agenda if they even exist at all,' <\/p>\n
Weld went a step further. <\/p>\n
'People will be happier,' he thought. <\/p>\n
'I want folks to have a good time,' he said. 'You can make people feel better about themselves.' <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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