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September 11th, 2012
07:26 PM ET
Gary Johnson could be a spoiler
Will Libertarian Gary Johnson be the one who tips the balance in a crucial state this November? CNN's Joe Johns reports.
RELATED STORY: Spoiler alert: Poll finds small following for Libertarian candidate
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GaryJohson is more egnuine and sincere. He is more authentic to the traditional and true values of the republican party, which has been high jacked by a 'pseudo-liberal'. Mitt Romney has proven to be the 'wolf hiding under sheep's coat'. He has no strongly held values or morals. He 'flips' for convenience and then wonders why he keeps flopping. To be honest, his performance at debate was 'average' and over rated. Obamha knew what he was doing (doesn't want his own base to become too complacent and not come out to vote). But Romeny just lapped it all up (although I guess he had no choice, since otherwise he would have been on his way out). The RNC made a huge mistake & oversight not selecting a 'true' republican (Ron Paul) or someone more genuine & passionate about their beliefs and political philosophy. Now they are stuck with a 'liberal'.
At least GARY JOHNSON is the REAL DEAL. I have just donated $200 to his cause. ......Let's show RNC that this corner of republican party also count !
I love this! I too am voting for Johnson, there is no other choice as far as I'm concerned! Now CNN, if you could start educating voters on how the electoral college ACTUALLY works, it would go a long way toward getting people to vote him. I see far too many that don't know and they assume the electoral college wouldn't vote for him, so he has no chance, and therefore they believe it is a wasted vote. Please cover this topic! Thank you for featuring Gary....he deserves the media attention!
LIBERTARIAN GARY JOHNSON... THE "BEST CANDIDATE" FOR U.S. PRESIDENT!!! A VOTE FOR HIM BUILDS THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY!!!
As Governor of New Mexico, he led it from a $500 million deficit to a $1 billion surplus! Never increased taxes! Decreased taxes 14 times! Vetoed 750 bills! State government "shrunk" by 1,200 jobs! The State "grew" by 20,000 jobs!
Gary Johnson has the highest ranking on civil liberties of any candidate! Will submit a "balanced budget" to Congress in his first year, by "cutting out" 43% wasteful spending! Will propose eliminating all income taxes and replace them with a sales tax!
While a student at the University of New Mexico, he started a 1 person handyman business that he eventually built into a 1,000 person construction company! He has even built his own house and climbed to the top of Mount Everest!
SUPPORT GARY JOHNSON... BECAUSE AMERICA NEEDS SUPERMAN NOW!!!
Campaign Ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izCXJZAIXMI
Great to see Gary Johnson's name in the media. He is an absolutely spectacular candidate that actually offers an alternative voice and substantive position: Pro-peace, pro-immigration, pro-civil liberties and constitutional rights, anti-drug war, pro-balancing the budget NOW, anti-borrowing 43cents for every dollar the Fed. Gov. spends, etc. He is the only candidate on the ballot I will and can vote for, otherwise my conscious will convict me for perpetuating the American 'bipartocracy.'
I saw a video on youtube one time that demonstrated how these electronic voting machines can be rigged to cast a vote for the favored party instead of the one you actually voted for,. the demonstration was with 10 people they were all instructed to vote no except one person and when the ballots were counted all were tallied as yes votes instead of the way they actually voted. the computerized voting machines were already preprogramed to have a yes outcome.!!! We need a new voting system that ACTUALLY counts the votes as they are made not contrived and manipulated. And this was already proven to be used in the primaries in several states. thus booting out Ron Paul. I will cast my vote for Gary as he is this country's only hope. Let'send the rigged voting system to start with and get a real true American in the white house for a change. These other candidates (Barry and Mitty) are not true Americans they are the NEW breed of Americans that are of the ME ME ME generation that doesn't give a rats ass about fixing anything just stuffing their pockets and making themselves look like the saviour, that they aren't . GARY JOHNSON OUR ONLY HOPE FOR 2012!!
Finally! Some main stream media notice for Gary Johnson. Gary Johnson 2012!
Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Michigan are trying to block Gary Johnson from getting on the ballot. North Korea, Iraq and Iran would try to block a candidate like Gary Johnson form getting on the ballot too.
his appeal is lot more than social issues wow hes an athelete, hes dedicated, hes responsible, he ran as republican, hes libertarian, hes abt ending war, he tells the TRUTH , wow i could go on and on... ♥ GOD BLESS AMERICA & GOD BLESS GJ ♥
Thats just ridiculous, the only thing he could do is give us for more years of Barrack Obama.
Gary Johnson could be President of the USA if people would wake up!!
This country deserves an honest debate. The establishment will continue to damage this country and keep our citizens ignorant. Truth is there are very few differences between Obama and Romney and that's the way the establishment wants it. Gary Johnson can only strengthen the overall debate by prompting Americans to consider other perspectives. The Fed, our foreign policy, the unconstitutional income tax, coorporate personhood and so on. Let's actually have an exchange of ideas!!!
Obama & Romney are the Spoilers to Gary Johnson Election!
Why would the Romney camp be so concerned? I thought their guy was so "electable" they shouldn't have to worry about it? What I'm tired of is the two parties trying to decide for us, who to vote for. I thought this was supposed to be a country in which OUR voices mattered? If we don't want to vote for Obamney, we shouldn't have to. Plain and simple. It proves to me that your guys is worthless if you feel the need to spend millions of dollars to keeps someone who is credible and, should I say, Electable, off the ballot. Shame on the two party system and it's puppeteers.
I was planning on voting for Obama even though I was a Republican. No one could have delt with the politics of the party of no whose only plan was to make things as bad as possible to get reelected. When 5 senators from the Republican party quit because of their parties politics, it should tell even the sleepy heads there is a problem. Gary Johnson is the only candidate with a credible plan to reduce the deficit. Gary Johnson is the only one with a plan to stop the killing of 50000 people on our southern border, Gary Johnson is the only candidate to recognize there is an issue with our tax system an propose a fix. If he combines the various law agencies, reduces defense spending and ends the drug war he can eliminate a huge amount of federal spending. I do not hold with some of the libertarian policies however he is the only candidate that has a plan that can work almost immediately. He hasn't addressed what his plans would be for over 1 million people who are thrown out of government, and civilian defense complex employees were the reduction policies were put into action, I suspect for a time these individuals would be unemployed which would raise some support levels above his calculation in early years but it would pay off before the end of his term.. Drastic yes, but it is the time for drastic actions, not kick the can to the out years as all the other candidates are planning. Sooner is better than later as people will have to recover or re-plan their lives eventually.
Thanks CNN for starting to cover Gary Johnson. Keep it up.
The Two Party System owns the Media and as a result any third party candidate only gets negative coverage aimed at turning the unthinking masses against that candidate. In this way the Two Parties, one monster, control the outcomes of the vote. Until the power of the Two Party Sytem is taken away and the totally biased media ignored will there be any chance to restore this fractured country. We are a people who have been divided into numerous little groups that are incapable of impacting the Washington Monster that we have created. Black against white,left against right, Repub. against Dem, poor against rich, unemployed against employed, worker against owners. Untll we realize that we have been manipulated from the inside so that they might conrol us, get used to being a servant/slave.
I wanted to add to this but you basically nailed it. Divide and conquer. It's working....
Bring on approval voting and Johnson might even win.
With both major party campaigns telling lies and misleading statements about the other, with Citizens United where money is out of control (especially in the GOP), and because of all the partisan gridlock; I plan to vote for Gary Johnson as a protest vote in order to send a message that what is going on in both major parties is not acceptable. I encourage all voters who feel like I do to vote for a third party candidate!
Maybe with a high third party voter turnout that does "spoil" the election (or comes close to "spoiling" it), both major parties will wise up, get the message to stop the nonsense, and do what the people hired them for so that the country can be truly governed again!
This sounds crazy, but the media really does seem like they are afraid, as well as the rest of the establishment (Repub and Dem). When I say afraid, I mean that they are afraid of what a third party (Libertarian or Green) could actually do to the system that is clearly rigged. When you start up an article about a third party candidate with this person could be a spoiler you are tainting the readers opinion from the start.
Even more of a reason to vote third party in this election.
He is no spoiler, he is a choice. Americans who are frustrated with our current political system should considering looking into Gary Johnson. He accomplished much as Governor of New Mexico and the Libertarian Party is growing daily. We are diverse, but we hold strong to the ideas of Liberty and Freedom.
Let Johnson DEBATE!
The GOP is disgusting, trying to take away choice this election. They know they're doomed with such a horrendous candidate, and are scared votes might actually be intelligent and vote for the true fiscal conservative. This election, independents and libertarians are sending a message to the Establishment: we're tired of you, we don't like you, we want someone serious, intelligent, and with great experience to lead our country: Gary Johnson.
GOP and Dems: show you aren't scared, debate Johnson.
For Gary Johnson not to be in the debates just shows how the U.S.A. has gone in the wrong direction.
Thanks to the gov. forign policies we had Sept.11 ( blow back )
We are suppose to be a free nation but we lose more and more of our freedoms every day
Thanks to our policies of sticking our noses in others peoples buss.
Wake up America and see the light. Change MUST come in order for us, the american people to survive.
Please THINK for yourself and make the right choice.
Don't let the media influence your vote. Listen to, Learn about, Vote Gary Johnson.
You can't spoil tainted meat. Johnson/Gray 2012!
I hope he does Wolf. Maybe then the two major Parties will start paying attention to what their members say instead of expecting us to pay attention to what they have to say. We are tired of the same ole shell game every 4 years.
Gary Johnson needs to be included in the upcoming debates! There is no reason why a presidential candidate appearing on the ballot in almost all 50 states should not be allowed to debate Romney and Obama. It's time to quit thinking so closed-mindedly within the two-party system and make some real changes in this country!
Gary Johnson is not a spoiler, he is a choice. For those Americans who are frustrated with the current political system I suggest you take a good look at this candidate. His party has a large following that continues to grow daily. Many of the Libertarian Party members share diverse beliefs but we all stand around one principle truth... Liberty. It is freedom that unites and freedom that prospers. Lastly, if this news organization wants to maintain any of its journalistic respect it would be wise to include former Governor Johnson in the debates.
The last bit of this is telling. Republicans openly admit that GJ hurts their chances in Pennsylvania because they are looking for something new. In other words, their own candidate is not offering the choice that those voters want.
What it comes down to, ultimately, is that Republicans and Democrats have both abandoned the very principles of democratic elections. Republicans wore the cloak of voter suppression in full force this year, trying to reduce voting hours in Democrat-leaning counties of Ohio while retaining extended voting hours in Republican-leaning counties of Ohio. They have tried to get a competitor's name removed from ballots where it will hurt them. In the primaries, they defrauded the delegates of Maine and Massachusetts because they supported a candidate that didn't fit with with their core ideals. At the convention, they held a bogus vote on changing convention rules to essentially allow the RNC the freedom to replace at will any delegates who the convention leaders disagree with. The vote was bogus because they had the answer for the vote displayed on the teleprompter before the "nay" votes were even heard.
The Democrats are not without guilt at doing similar things. At the DNC, they had a very similar circumstance where a teleprompter issued a vote result before the floor voted. In 2008, the Obama campaign tried to disqualify delegates from Florida and one other state on a technicality (early primary). Not surprisingly, these were states Hillary Clinton won. In 2004, the Democrats tried to get Ralph Nader removed from ballots.
We do not have fair and free elections in the US.
It is incorrect to call Gary Johnson a spoiler because you cannot spoil what is already rotten.
The Democrat-GOP duopoly is responsible for the horrific mess in which our nation finds itself, economically, fiscally, and in world opinion. Governor Johnson is not really taking votes from either candidate because Johnson voters would not vote for Romney nor Obama under any circumstance.
As for the GOP's actions in PA and MI, they can couch it in any terms they like, but what they are doing intentionally and with malice aforethought is to deny voters in those states a real choice, much as they did to Paul delegates to the RNC. It is back-room politics at its ugliest.
With 1/3 of the voting public being independent and even more people wanting a fiscally conservative government that stays out of our personal lives, I think Gary Johnson is really the only candidate to consider for President. Both the Republicans and the Democrats are more focused on keeping the power of their party than addressing the real issues of the country. Neither party has the ability to bring this country together either. If a Democrat or a Republican wins, will there really be any meaningful change? I can see why neither party wants Gary Johnson in the debates or on the ballot, they are scared.
Gary Johnson is not a spoiler, you cannot spoil what is already rotten.
Governor Johnson represents what is best in and for America, and will attract votes from those who are fed up with the destructive path the big-government Duopoly has set us on. Their votes are not taken from anyone else, because Jounson voters would not vote for either of the other candidates under any circumstances.
If you haven't looked at Gary Johnson's policies, you have been doing yourself a serious disservice. He is the only candidate that will stand up for individual freedoms and the constitution itself. The other two parties will trample all over both of these.
Maybe if the Republican party didn't nominate such a flip-flopping windsock of a candidate, who has now said he supports some parts so Obama care after denouncing it, but still admitting he wrote the blueprint for it, so many people wouldn't be leaving the Republican party in droves. Also the way that the Romney people treated Ron Paul delegates, plus that bit of kidnapping of the Virginia and Rhodes Island delegates, did not cause many Ron Paul supporter to want to vote for Romney.
And Obama has been engaging in a drug war blitzkrieg busting and shutting down growers and dispensaries at a higher rate in three years than Bush did in eight (when he promised in 2008 not to), plus Obama has proven to be a bigger war monger and civil liberties crusher than Bush, a lot of disillusioned Obama supporters are running to Johnson to save what little rights and civil liberties we have left.
No wonder everyone is starting to consider voting for Johnson. The Democrats have become war mongering civil liberty crushers like the Republicans and the Republicans have become big government bailout spenders like the Democrats. It's voting for the lesser of two evils and evil is tired of voting for evil.
Maybe now that CNN believes Gary Johnson could "be a spoiler" they will start carrying him and his positions in their election coverage?
IHe has my vote.
Gary Johnson is not a spoiler. The mainstream media is the spoiler not allowing us to explore all of our choices. get him on the debates
Article should read Obama and Romney could be a spoiler for Johnson
I'm sorry, not article. More along the lines of statement.
Apparently, Obama or Romney being on the ballot in all 50 states will cost Gary Johnson the election.
I am an Obama fan. Will vote for him. But I kinda like Gary Johnson. He makes a lot of sense, he advocates getting out of everybody's personal business. And he knows how to budget a state, so I am sure he would be better than Mittens. I would never vote for Romney, never, never, never.
For all of you who think you'd rather vote for Gary Johnson but feel compelled to vote for the lesser of two evils, PLEASE demonstrate some audacity and actually vote for the one you want. If enough people did this, we'd be out of this eternal ping-pong (or pissing) match.
Step up, people. This is YOUR country, YOUR future, and maybe even your CHILD's future.
Spoiler or not his message and platform is something this country needs.
Gary Johnson has my vote..
Thats like the Republican Staple these days... voter fraud , the democrats are tryig to mess with voters so we.... YEA RIGHT!!!! they just dont want voters hearing from the best candidate on the ballots, Governor Johnson
Gary Johnson is poised for an EPIC WIN. In the beginning the votes will come from Romney, but in the end, quite a few will have come from Obama too.
Gary should be in the debates: http://www.causes.com/actions/1682103
Agreed. I love all the subtext of 'don't vote for this guy' because you know, we gotta stick with the two party system, the illusion of choice. As if the (ha liberal) media's pretending Ron Paul didn't exist wasn't enough...
Put Gov. Gary Johnson in the DEBATES!!!!!!!
IT will take a full court press until November 6 for that to happen. Too many people mindlessly believe that a third party cannot win, and they are right if they go along with that Two Party Propaganda. If the voters would vote their conscience and not their party and take a look at what Gary Johnson stands for I believe that he would win by a good margin. Question is: can we get them to do it? Answer: Almost anything is possible if we work hard enough at it.