#LetGaryDebate! Johnson Supporters Push To Get LP Nominee in Debates

On Wednesday, around 150 supporters of Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee for president, protested in front of the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Commission on Presidential Debates. They say the former two-term governor of New Mexico has been unfairly excluded from sharing a stage with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and that voters are being cheated of learning about a viable alternative who actually represents more Americans than either the Democratic or Republican candidates.

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"The polls were not correct!" "Polls have underrepresented 35-and-younger voters! Other polls have underrepresented independents!" "He's on all 50 ballots plus the District of Columbia and I think it's imperative for the American people to really know what their choice is!"

Those are some of the reasons why supporters of Gary Johnson, the former two-term governor of New Mexico who is the Libertarian nominee for president, believe he should be on the debate stage with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Polling around 9 percent nationally, Johnson didn't reach the 15 percent cut-off that the Commission on Public Debates, a nonprofit created in 1987 by the Republican and Democratic Parties, set as a threshold for participation.

Under the banner of #LetGaryDebate, about raucous 150 protesters gathered outside the Washington, D.C. offices of the commission on Wednesday, September 21 to make their case (Reason attempted to get the commission's point of view but was not allowed to enter the building.)

Beyond raising questions about polling methodology, the protesters stressed Johnson, whose running mate is Bill Weld, another former two-term governor, is a "sane centrist" in a race dominated by two divisive extremists. "He's the only one who can unite us," said one protester.

Interviews by Nick Gillespie. Produced by Josh Swain.

For more links and videos go to http://reason.com/reasontv/2016/09/22/what-we-saw-at-letgarydebate