Gary Johnson finally included in presidential polling
Posted at: 08/30/2012 6:03 PM
| Updated at: 08/30/2012 6:39 PM
By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4
At last Gary Johnson is included in presidential polling.
It's a major win for the Libertarian candidate who served two terms as Governor of New Mexico.
A Rasmussen poll reports of 1,000 likely American voters finds 16 percent have a favorable opinion of Johnson, while 20 percent view him unfavorably.
His biggest problem? 63 percent don't know enough about him to have an opinion.
In a horse race the poll shows President Barack Obama and GOP contender Mitt Romney neck and neck with 48 percent apiece, with Johnson far behind with 1 percent and 3 percent undecided.
Johnson has been in Tampa, Fla. finding plenty of people to talk to, even though he's not welcome at the Republican National Convention.
Johnson dropped out of the party to run for the Libertarian nomination.
"I'm gonna be the only candidate who does not want to bomb Iran," Johnson told a cheering crowd of Libertarians at an event honoring Ron Paul, the lion of Libertarian politics. "I'm gonna be the only candidate who wants to get out of Afghanistan - bring the troops home."
Johnson is likely to be on the ballot in all 50 states, but third party candidates have not managed to win much in recent elections.
There was Ross Perot 20 years ago, winning 19 percent of the vote away from Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.
In 1980 John Anderson won 6.6 percent in a race that also featured Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.
In 1968, George Wallace got about 9 percent, running against Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey.
A century ago former President Teddy Roosevelt swung 27 percent of the vote, finishing second to Woodrow Wilson, with Republican William Howard Taft in third place.
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