# Gary Johnson at double digits in first three way poll **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 28, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430 "2016-03-28T03:29:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/21 "2016-03-28T13:01:56Z")
Gary Johnson is going to have a hard enough time winning the LP nomination if Jesse Ventura follows through on what he has said and attempts to get their nomination at the convention. If Ventura wins the nomination and makes the debate threshold, it will be the best thing to ever happen in American politics. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/22 "2016-03-28T13:10:13Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Gary Johnson is going to have a hard enough time winning the LP nomination if Jesse Ventura follows through on what he has said and attempts to get their nomination at the convention. If Ventura wins the nomination and makes the debate threshold, it will be the best thing to ever happen in American politics. Every debate would be two clowns and Hillary. I could live with that. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/23 "2016-03-28T14:32:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Every debate would be two clowns and Hillary. I could live with that. I imagine we’ll see someone get hit upside the head with a chair. Ought to be entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/24 "2016-03-28T14:39:01Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I imagine we’ll see someone get hit upside the head with a chair. …and then _Jesse Ventura_ will do something outrageous… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/25 "2016-03-28T15:22:03Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I doubt such a poll result this early means anything, but I’m totally okay with the possibility of Johnson’s support growing. He probably helps the Democrats, helps destroy the Republican party, and might add a non-crank voice to the conversation. One more bit of heartburn for the GOP would be that Johnson could easily get enough votes to greatly ease the LP’s ballot-access hurdles for the next couple of election cycles (since most states use “you automatically get on the ballot if your party got X% of the vote recently” as a legally-acceptable proxy for “the Democrats and Republicans automatically get on the ballot; everybody else has to jump through hoops”). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/26 "2016-03-28T15:27:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Of course Johnson will win more votes from Republicans. Which is why it’s awesome that Johnson+ Trump beats Clinton pretty easily. If we have to live with Hillary Clinton as President, I’m all for giving her a weaker mandate than even her husband had. Let’s see if we can make Clinton win with 39% of the vote. Harry Truman was elected with 49% of the popular vote in 1948 Kennedy got 49.7% in 1960 Nixon (1968) received 43.4% Clinton got 43% in 1992 and 49% in 1996 Bush got 47.8% in 2000 “Mandates” are overrated. ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/27 "2016-03-28T15:41:50Z")
Anyone else think it’s weird that the article doesn’t actually give the numbers for the _other_ candidates in that poll? [Here’s a link to the actual poll results](http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/32212254770/32212254991/32212254992/32212254994/32212254995/30064771087/7714a05b-515f-4ad3-bdaa-e72a6e5f8e61.pdf), and here’s the relevant part about the three-way-race: > [@](#): > > Monmouth also tested a potential three-way race involving Clinton, Trump, and former GOP governor, now Libertarian, Gary Johnson. In this hypothetical contest, Clinton earns 42% of the vote – down 6 points from the two-person race – and Trump gets 34% – down 4 points from the two-person race. Johnson takes 11%. > > In this contest, Clinton maintains her swing state lead – 44% to 37% for Trump and 9% for Johnson – while her leaning state lead narrows – 43% to 34% for Trump and 9% for Johnson. Johnson gets his highest vote share – 15% – in the red states. Johnson is largely an unknown commodity. Just 9% have a favorable opinion of him and 15% an unfavorable opinion, while 3-in-4 (76%) don’t know enough about him to form an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/28 "2016-03-28T18:39:01Z")
Gary Johnson? Isn’t he usually the “none of the above” candidate? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/29 "2016-03-28T18:41:57Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > “Forget it, Johnny - it’s Adahertown.” lol One of my favorite movies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/30 "2016-03-28T19:08:24Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Harry Truman was elected with 49% of the popular vote in 1948 > Kennedy got 49.7% in 1960 > Nixon (1968) received 43.4% > Clinton got 43% in 1992 and 49% in 1996 > Bush got 47.8% in 2000 > > “Mandates” are overrated. don’t forget tho, in every single one of those cases _except 2000_, the winner did have the highest number of votes, more than anyone else did. Bush in 2000 did not, and joined only 3 other election winners in American history. I know Republicans try to equate winning a plurality with winning less than a plurality, but its not the same. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/31 "2016-03-28T19:47:34Z")
He, like all the other Libtertarians, was right between the Democrats and Republicans when I did [that test](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=788432) on [Isidewith.com](http://Isidewith.com). So I think he was actually a good choice to put on as the None Of The Above candidate, so he might hold on to more people than, say, a Green party candidate would ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/32 "2016-03-28T22:12:38Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Gary Johnson is going to have a hard enough time winning the LP nomination if Jesse Ventura follows through on what he has said and attempts to get their nomination at the convention. If Ventura wins the nomination and makes the debate threshold, it will be the best thing to ever happen in American politics. I was a big fan of Ventura back when he was governor of Minnesota, and he is also qualified on paper, but the conspiracy theorist aspect makes him look like a crank. Johnson is a lot more seasoned. Plus Johnson is an actual libertarian, whereas Ventura has only ever run under the Reform Party, which is more associated with Buchanan and Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/33 "2016-03-28T23:02:13Z")
Deez Nuts got 10% in a poll. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430/34 "2016-03-29T00:01:27Z")
> [@DerekMichaels00](#): > > god no. Hillary doesn’t need her [mandate ruined](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=763148) like what happened to Bill in the '90s. > The left-wing kiddies of the Dem party need to let the centrist adults run the show already, stop whining, and get in line and vote for the Clintons. The more you and **SlackerInc** post this sort of nonsense, the more likely it’ll be that young voters will stay home and TRUMP will be President. > [@adaher](#): > > Of course Johnson will win more votes from Republicans. Which is why it’s awesome that Johnson+ Trump beats Clinton pretty easily. If we have to live with Hillary Clinton as President, I’m all for giving her a weaker mandate than even her husband had. Let’s see if we can make Clinton win with 39% of the vote. Don’t be silly. Perot pretended to care about American workers at least. > [@adaher](#): > > True, but wouldn’t you think that what amounts to a moderate Republican, one who is actually qualified to be President, would have a unique opening given the likely major party nominees? Support legalized abortion and gay marriage =/= “moderate”. [TRUMP is far more moderate then Johnson on the issues that matter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Gary_Johnson): > [@](#): > > Johnson has said that the United States is heading toward an economic crisis similar to the 1998 Russian financial crisis, and that it can be stopped only by balancing the federal budget.[7][8] As such, he promised to submit a balanced budget for the year 2013 and promises to veto any bills containing expenditures in excess of revenues.[7] He promises to look at every decision as a cost-benefit analysis.[9] His budget would cut federal expenditures by 43% in every area, “across the board,”[7] including “responsible entitlement reform,” because the “math is simple: federal spending must be cut not by millions or billions, but by trillions.” He calls the notion “that we can control spending and balance the budget without reforming Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security” “lunacy.”[10] Johnson supports amending the U.S. Constitution to require an annual balanced budget.[11] Johnson opposes earmarks, and would veto any bills containing them.[10] > [@](#): > > Johnson supports ending the federal personal and corporate income tax system and replacing it with the FairTax reform proposal (while systematically reducing these taxes to near-zero levels), a national consumption tax on new goods and services. He believes the FairTax would “reboot” the American economy without impacting those at or under the poverty level, who would not be subject to it. He believes that abolishing the federal corporate income tax, which he says is the second highest in the world, would create tens of millions of jobs immediately.[7] Due to his stance on taxes, David Weigel described him as “the original Tea Party candidate”.[13] > [@](#): > > He supports raising the retirement age, multi-pronged means testing for Social Security recipients, and changing the escalator built into Social Security from the wage index to the inflation rate. He wants Congress to investigate privatizing part or all of Social Security with the goal being that the investment of contributions could be self-directed.[7] > > Johnson supports cutting federal Medicare and Medicaid expenditures by 43% by ending the federal, top-down bureaucracy that controls these programs, including all strings and mandates to states. Instead, he would block grant the remaining funds to the states to control all aspects of their own Medicaid and Medicare programs, making for “50 laboratories of innovation” from which best practices would emerge and eventually be duplicated.[7] He believes the states will “innovate, find efficiencies and provide better service at lower cost.” He says “common-sense cost savings” will place Medicare and Medicaid “on a path toward long-term solvency.”[10] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gary-johnson-at-double-digits-in-first-three-way-poll/750430.md?page=1)