Johnson sees third-party candidacy as 'opportunity'By Rebecca Savransky
May 08, 2016
Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson said in an interview on Sunday he sees a third-party candidacy as an opportunity, instead of as a threat.
"Well, I think it is a real opportunity. I do think that [Hillary] Clinton and [Donald] Trump are the two most polarizing figures in politics today," Johnson, who is expected to win the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination later this year, said on ABC's "This Week."
"And when 50 percent of Americans now declare themselves as independent, I happen to think that they're libertarian; it's just that they don't know it," he continued.
"Look, fiscally responsible, fiscally conservative, small government and then individual choices — freedom, liberty. Persons should be making choices in their own lives, not the government."
Johnson noted he doesn't think he'd take more votes from Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, than from Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.
"It draws from both sides and — and at the end of the day, 50 percent of Americans say they're independent," he said.
"Well, where's their representation? I think it happens to be libertarian."
Johnson also declined to say if he would support Clinton or Trump if he had to choose.
"You know what? I've been voting libertarian a long time. I read a book in 1971 that, uh, really laid out what it was to be a libertarian. And I have identified myself as a libertarian ever since," he said.
"I'm always believing that there's going to be a libertarian on the ballot."
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/279155-johnson-says-he-sees-third-party-candidacy-as-opportunity
