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Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson learned yesterday that he will not be allowed to participate in the June 13 Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire hosted by CNN, the New Hampshire Union Leader and WMUR radio.
Johnson, 58, is the only one of the five candidates who participated in the first presidential debate of the 2012 election cycle when he joined former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, businessman Herman Cain, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul on the stage in Greenville, South Carolina on May 5, who’s being excluded from the New Hampshire debate.
Frontrunner Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann — the latter of whom hasn’t even declared her candidacy yet — will also appear in the New Hampshire debate. Johnson, a former two-term Republican governor in a traditionally Democratic state and arguably the most libertarian-minded candidate in the field, officially entered the race on April 21 in Concord, New Hampshire.
Debate organizers say that Johnson, a fiscal conservative who supports gay marriage and is strongly opposed to the war in Afghanistan, failed to meet their “objective criteria” for inclusion in the debate. Specifically, Johnson had failed to poll an average of at least 2 percent in at least three national polls, or at least 2 percent in a New Hampshire-specific survey between May 1 and May 31.
Dubbed “the original Tea Party candidate” by Slate’s David Weigel, Johnson was obviously disappointed by the news. “I sympathize with the millions of Americans whose beliefs will not be on display in Manchester on June 13,” said Johnson.
In a statement released earlier today, Johnson’s campaign lamented the ex-governor’s exclusion, saying his absence “denies a voice at the debate for a substantial slice of the Republican Party, those who share his undiluted view of personal liberty and real fiscal restraint.”
This needs more coverage, as it appears scandalous. CNN would not even include Gary Johnson in their two polls done in April, even though he was the only official candidate. How can he qualify if they don’t even include him in their polling? Gallup, which has Gary Johnson at 2% in all their recent polling, would be the qualifying standard by a more objective rationale.
I’ve start a petition to get Gary Johnson included in the debate:
http://www.change.org/petitions/demand-cnn-and-sponsors-invite-former-gov-gary-johnson-to-the-june-13th-nh-primary-debate