Johnson Campaign asks D.C. Federal Court to Intervene in Presidential Debates
Argues Former New Mexico Governor Has Met Criteria
Citing survey data showing former New Mexico
Governor Gary Johnson has in fact achieved the narrow criteria required for inclusion
in the Monday debate, earning more than 40 percent of the vote in
"head-to-head" polls against President Barack Obama, the Libertarian
Party nominee's campaign today filed a complaint in Federal Court in the
District of Columbia maintaining that Johnson has, in fact, met the Commission
on Presidential Debates' criteria for inclusion. The complaint asks the Court
to compel the CPD to include Johnson.
"The CPD requirements say Johnson 'must
register support of at least 15 percent of the vote in five recent
polls,'" Johnson campaign counsel Alicia Dearn said in a statement.
"Nowhere does it say those polls must include three candidates. Indeed,
the polls used by the CPD to exclude Johnson test only two candidates even
though Gov. Johnson is on the ballot in 48 states. We argue that Gov. Johnson
has met the specific and narrow criteria laid out by the CPD.
"Included in the two-party 'deal' struck by
the Republicans and Democrats are the criteria by which candidates are invited
to participate. As a two-term governor who is on more than enough states'
ballots to be elected in the Electoral College, the decision to exclude Gov.
Johnson can only be based upon the CPD's self-determined polling criterion —
using polls that are 'head-to-head' surveys between Romney and Obama. Who
decided that? The CPD rules do not specify the number of candidates to be
tested in the poll. Using their own methodology, polls that ask voters'
preferences between the President and Gov. Johnson are equally valid, and as we
have demonstrated, will show more than enough support for Gov. Johnson to meet
the CPD's arbitrary 15 percent requirement. The same would clearly be the
result when Gov. Johnson is surveyed against only Gov. Romney. Nowhere does it
say that only the Republican and the Democrat should be pitted against one
another," Dearn said.
"It must be repeated that the
official-sounding Commission on Presidential Debates is not official at all. It
is a private organization created by the Republican and Demo cratic Parties for
the clear and admitted purpose of controlling the presidential debate process.
Everything from the schedule to the participants to the water glasses on stage
are determined by way of an MOU between the two parties, to the exclusion of
everyone else.
Two debates have already happened, and have
excluded Gov. Johnson. We can't change that — no matter how unfair. However,
the CPD has one last opportunity to do the right thing for Monday night's
debate, which we have asked them to do via a letter transmitted Thursday.
However, we are not holding our breath for an answer, and have asked the
Federal Court to help them do the right thing. Also, we make it clear in our
complaint that this issue does not end Monday night, and that it is not just
about Gov. Johnson. We are also asking for a permanent injunction to require
that the CPD's criteria be changed for future elections to correct the
organization's fundamental unfairness.
"The American people need to understand that
the presidential debates are televised productions of the Republican and
Democratic Parties. Nothing more. And those productions are designed to exclude
alternative voices and ignore the simple fact that one-third of the electorate
does not belong to their exclusive clubs."
A copy of the Johnson campaign's complaint and
letter to the CPD are available here.
For more information about Gary Johnson, go to www.garyjohnson2012.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment