Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson speaks in Orlando, Fla., on Sept 23, 2011. (Associated Press) **FILE**
Libertarian presidential hopeful Gary Johnson, possibly benefitting from dissatisfaction with the two major parties’ front-runners, is in double digits in a potential three-way race, according to a poll released Thursday.
In a three-way contest, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton was at 42 percent, GOP front-runner Donald Trump was at 34 percent, and Mr. Johnson, who is seeking the Libertarian Party’s nomination, was at 11 percent, according to the Monmouth University poll.
More than three-quarters of respondents didn’t know enough about Mr. Johnson, the former New Mexico governor and 2012 presidential candidate, to have formed an opinion. Mr. Johnson received more than 1 million votes in 2012 — a record for a Libertarian candidate — which amounted to about 1 percent of the popular vote.
But 40 percent of registered voters said they had a favorable opinion of Mrs. Clinton, compared to 51 percent with an unfavorable one.
Mr. Trump fared even worse, with 30 percent reporting a favorable opinion of him and 60 percent viewing him unfavorably.
“A vigorous third party campaign is a very real possibility this year, but it is not yet clear what the impact could be,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. “Including Johnson’s name in our polling seems to be more of a placeholder for voters who are not particularly thrilled with either major party choice right now.”
In a head-to-head match-up, Mrs. Clinton had a 10-point lead over Mr. Trump, 48 percent to 38 percent.
Poster Comment:
Clinton 51% unfavorable opinion
Trump 60% unfavorable opinion
Trump is more hated than Hillary even. He's the GOPe's plan to get Hillary elected.
Except, Gary Johnson may end up beating them both.
#1: Tooconservative To: hondo68 (#0)
Johnson is far more likely to pull enough votes to be a spoiler.
The Dim faithful will never abandon Hitlery. And Johnson was an elected GOP governor, one far more acceptable to most GOP voters than Trump is.
Likely outcome is Johnson has no real effect in the general election or he is a spoiler for Trump resulting in Prez Hitlery.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-25 05:58:14 Reply Private Reply
#2: A K A Stone To: hondo68 (#0)
A K A Stone posted on 2016-03-25 07:46:38 Reply Private Reply
#3: A K A Stone To: TooConservative (#1)
A K A Stone posted on 2016-03-25 07:52:41 Reply Private Reply
#4: Hondo68 To: A K A Stone, *2016 The Likely Suspects* (#2)
So your next door neighbor and I did not push Johnson up to 11%, it's that your other candidates suck even more!
Look at the disapproval numbers, Trump is at 60% and Hillary's not a whole lot better. You're helping Johnson by pushing that NYC loser who makes the New Mexico stoner governor look good by comparison.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-03-25 10:06:30 Reply Private Reply
#5: Tooconservative To: A K A Stone (#3)
The never-Trumpers will find it easy to vote for an ex-GOP governor who had a solid conservative record as gov of NM.
People talk about a third-party threat. As far as I can see, there's no real reason why Johnson won't do. His biggest downside with GOP voters would be amnesty (the GOPe loves it) and legal pot (not that big an issue with the never-Trumpers).
So Johnson is likely to drive LP voting to unheard of levels if Trump is the nominee.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-25 20:41:54 Reply Private Reply
#6: Fred Mertz To: hondo68 (#4)
Fred Mertz posted on 2016-03-25 21:53:14 Reply Private Reply
#7: A K A Stone To: TooConservative (#5)
FAGGOTS PRETENDING TO BE MARRIED ISN"T CONSERVATIVE. Abortion isn't conservative. Open borders isn't conservative.
If you call that conservative. Then tooconservative means pro faggot open border baby killer.
Is that what you are?
Trump is more conservative then that puke Johnson.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-03-26 00:22:22 Reply Private Reply
#8: A K A Stone To: TooConservative (#5)
That is about as smart as when you said.
Trump sin't running.
He will be out by the third debate.
He has a ceiling of 10 percent
Ha has a ceiling of 15 percent
He has a ceiling of 20 percent.
He will not file his financials.
He will drop out before the primaries.
He lost Iowa he is finished.
Your record as of late hasn't been good. It's been terrible.
Well it has.
A K A Stone posted on 2016-03-26 00:24:46 Reply Private Reply
#9: Tooconservative To: A K A Stone (#7)
No, he isn't. Johnson has a record and it was a good one too. Especially in a state like NM which leans Blue. Johnson was very popular there as gov.
Tooconservative posted on 2016-03-26 02:42:27 Reply Private Reply