Image from www.citizensforgaryjohnson.com
A new batch of presidential polls have come out this week and while the numbers vary according to each survey, they continue to have one thing in common: They don’t include Gary Johnson (or any other third-party candidate) by name when they ask voters whom they prefer to see in the White House.
The choice for respondents was strictly between Mitt Romney or Barack Obama in the Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday (July 9) as well as in surveys conducted by other major polling organizations Reuters/IPSOS, JZ Analytics/Washington Times, and CNN/Opinion Research.
Quinnipiac’s poll, released Wednesday, also didn’t ask about Johnson — although it did offer potential voters a choice of “someone else,” which received 3 percent in the national survey of 2,722 registered voters.
The polls come one week after Johnson’s running mate in the Libertarian Party, Judge Jim Gray of California, sent letters to the major polling firms asking them to include Johnson in their surveys.
“Voters everywhere are showing they have an appetite for a third-party candidate,” Gray said in the letter. “Unlike other non-major-party candidates, Gov. Johnson will likely be on the ballot in all 50 states. That fact alone justifies his inclusion in legitimate presidential polls.”
The letter appears to have made no impact, though.
For months, Johnson has talked about his “15 percent” strategy in which the former two-term governor of New Mexico hopes to reach the 15-percent mark among potential voters in nationally-recognized polls. By doing so, Johnson would qualify under the guidelines created by the Commission on Presidential Debates to appear on the stage with Obama and Romney in the three nationally-televised presidential debates held this fall.
The last third-party candidate to qualify was Ross Perot, when he appeared with then-President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
“Obviously, it is impossible to qualify on the basis of polls when a candidate is not included in those polls,” Gray said in his letter.
Johnson’s name has appeared in a few statewide polls, where he has received up to 12 percent approval in his home state of New Mexico, 9 percent in Arizona and 7 percent in New Hampshire and Colorado.
In one national poll that included Johnson’s name, he received 2 percent in a survey conducted in May by Zogby. Days later, in a post on its website, Zogby said, “Rest assured, we will be including Gary Johnson as we move forward” but so far we have yet to see any new national polling numbers from the organization.
In other news, Johnson has qualified to receive more money in presidential matching funds. The Federal Election Committee announced last week that Johnson will get $130,059. That brings Johnson’s total for the election cycle to $230,059 from the FEC.