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How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in Novem

Risky Thicket

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When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.

Former New Mexico Republican Governor Gary Johnson is running as the Libertarian candidate for President, and in some polls, is running as high as 9-12 percent in a four way race, with Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, gaining about 3 percent in most polls.This is due to the disillusionment of many Americans with the choices for President of the two major political parties—Donald Trump for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats. But the question is whether Gary Johnson, and his running mate for Vice President, former Massachusetts Republican Governor William Weld, could actually do as well as the polls indicate, and whether that would end up causing a constitutional crisis in November, when the election results are in.

The various polls which decide who should compete in the upcoming three Presidential debates and one Vice Presidential debate could allow Johnson and Weld to participate, with the threshold being 15 percent in a group of polls by a certain date in September, as was allowed for John Anderson in 1980 and H. Ross Perot in 1992. If that occurred, that could have a major impact on the race. And the news from Johnson that Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee, is considering an endorsement of him, opens up the possibility that other recalcitrant Republicans who refuse to endorse Donald Trump, might just endorse the Johnson-Weld team and give them more legitimacy, and the potential to do better than anyone would imagine at the present.


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Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.

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I hope he gets into the debates, I really do and challenges the other two on their nonsense.

More voices at the table is not always so bad, we need someone talking more about ending the war on drugs, about ending foreign interventions that aren't necessary, about criminal justice reform and honestly probably a stronger voice for womens reproductive rights than Hillary herself.

I mean... He is still a libertarian so clueless on economics and taxation... But I really like the guy, was watching some interviews last night and Gary seems like a good guy.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.



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I hope Johnson can get enough support to get into the debates, but he really has got to figure out a way to not constantly be dragged into the legalization issue. Libertarianism is so much more than that, but every time I see him talk, that's all the interviewers ever talk about.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.

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When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.

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Soooo, just how does this long shot candidacy ignite a "constitutional crisis" in November?

The article points out that even in the (unlikely) event that Johnson takes enough electoral votes to prevent either Hillary or Trump from getting 270; it will be up to the House of Representatives.

That is fully in keeping with the Constitution. Therefore, no crisis. :coffeepap:
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

I hope he gets into the debates, I really do and challenges the other two on their nonsense.

More voices at the table is not always so bad, we need someone talking more about ending the war on drugs, about ending foreign interventions that aren't necessary, about criminal justice reform and honestly probably a stronger voice for womens reproductive rights than Hillary herself.

I mean... He is still a libertarian so clueless on economics and taxation... But I really like the guy, was watching some interviews last night and Gary seems like a good guy.

Gary Johnson and the LP and I don't agree on everything. Hell, I was once a member of the LP. All in all I could live with a Gary Johnson presidency much easier than I could live with Trump or Hillary. I believe Johnson is a pretty squared away guy and much more honest and trustworthy than Trump or Hillary. The world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place. I'd be most comfortable with Johnson in the White House compared to Trump or Clinton.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.



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There lacks to be any kind of constitutional crisis in your story. Your thread title is incredibly dishonest.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

There lacks to be any kind of constitutional crisis in your story. Your thread title is incredibly dishonest.

The thread title isn't my choice for the article headline. If you read the sourced article you may have noticed that.

In an effort to remain somewhat lightly gigged I now make it a practice never to post a new topic in Breaking News and to always use the headline of the article I post in the OP when I start a thread.
 
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Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.



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My prediction? Johnson will get within striking distance of 5% but not much more than that. Stein will get somewhere between .50% and 1.2% of the vote. I think, as usual, people vastly overestimate the solidity of third party candidates polling numbers. I think it will be much higher than usual, and my numbers reflect that, but not substantially higher. Especially as it becomes viscerally clear that this a stark choice between Trump and Clinton, political fantasies not withstanding.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

Soooo, just how does this long shot candidacy ignite a "constitutional crisis" in November?

The article points out that even in the (unlikely) event that Johnson takes enough electoral votes to prevent either Hillary or Trump from getting 270; it will be up to the House of Representatives.

That is fully in keeping with the Constitution. Therefore, no crisis. :coffeepap:

In 1992 Ross Perot got 19% of the popular vote and ZERO electoral votes but took many votes away from Bush41 allowing Clinton42 to win with 43% of the popular vote. A third party candidate will have a very difficult time winning even a single small state much less enough states to prevent one of the major party candidates from gettng the 270 electoral votes required. Get ready for Clinton45.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

I hope he gets into the debates, I really do and challenges the other two on their nonsense.

More voices at the table is not always so bad, we need someone talking more about ending the war on drugs, about ending foreign interventions that aren't necessary, about criminal justice reform and honestly probably a stronger voice for womens reproductive rights than Hillary herself.

I mean... He is still a libertarian so clueless on economics and taxation... But I really like the guy, was watching some interviews last night and Gary seems like a good guy.
I have a feeling that on the national stage he's going to bomb. I watched his libertarian debate performance and I thought that of the three he was able to power on through because of his credentials as NM governor. McAfee gave the best responses but seemed to be tweeking and then there was that other guy who just came off as too young and inexperienced. Johnson won because he was a big fish in a small pond and didn't blow away his contenders.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

When most people are barely able to stomach the thought of voting for Trump or Clinton the following scenario perhaps becomes more possible.



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New Hampshire—(4 electoral votes)—New Hampshire has a very prominent libertarian streak, going back a long time historically, and has the motto: “Live Free Or Die,” adopted by the state in 1945, so definitely could go for Johnson.

I'll be doing my part to make that happen!
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

I hope he gets into the debates, I really do and challenges the other two on their nonsense.

More voices at the table is not always so bad, we need someone talking more about ending the war on drugs, about ending foreign interventions that aren't necessary, about criminal justice reform and honestly probably a stronger voice for womens reproductive rights than Hillary herself.

I mean... He is still a libertarian so clueless on economics and taxation... But I really like the guy, was watching some interviews last night and Gary seems like a good guy.

Someone is clearly clueless on economics and taxation but it isn't Gov. Johnson or Gov. Weld.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

There lacks to be any kind of constitutional crisis in your story. Your thread title is incredibly dishonest.

It makes YOU look bad when you pick at people. Would you feel better if he changed the word to "challenge"? One could consider it a crisis when a very possible outcome is that Trump gets inaugurated in spite of losing both the popular and electoral vote. So tell me, having carefully hedged everything I said with "possible", "one could consider", have I successfully completed your verbal obstacle course?
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

It makes YOU look bad when you pick at people. Would you feel better if he changed the word to "challenge"? One could consider it a crisis when a very possible outcome is that Trump gets inaugurated in spite of losing both the popular and electoral vote. So tell me, having carefully hedged everything I said with "possible", "one could consider", have I successfully completed your verbal obstacle course?

There is no "challenge". The process for selecting a president and vice president is spelled out in the constitution. That process would be followed. No crisis involved.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

I read the source article and didn't see any Constitutional conflict. What I saw was a long-shot for of Constitutional opportunity to save us from another liberal Democrat as president.
 
Re: How presidential candidate Gary Johnson could ignite a constitutional crisis in N

There is no "challenge". The process for selecting a president and vice president is spelled out in the constitution. That process would be followed. No crisis involved.

I agree there was no Constitutional crisis cited in the article but to stretch that to "incredibly dishonest" is, well, picking and off topic.
 
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