Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson won his first newspaper endorsement from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which labeled him a man of "integrity," "apparently normal ego" and of "trustworthy character."

"Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president," the paper's editorial board wrote. "Fortunately, there is a reasonable — and formidable — alternative."

The Times-Dispatch supported Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008. But in this election, the editorial board urged voters to reject the two major-party nominees and support Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, and called on the commission overseeing presidential debates to include Johnson.

"If given the opportunity to make his case, Gary Johnson will persuade millions of Americans that he is the most capable and ethical candidate running this year," the board wrote. </s> RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Richmond-Times Dispatch is endorsing Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson for president.

In a lengthy editorial posted late Saturday night, the newspaper said the former New Mexico governor is a man of “good integrity, apparently normal ego and sound ideas.” Johnson met with the newspaper’s editorial board last week.

The Times-Dispatch added that Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton fail to meet the moral and professional standards Americans should expect.

The editorial calls for the Commission on Presidential Debates to allow Johnson to join Trump and Clinton on stage. The debates are scheduled to begin Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

Johnson served as New Mexico’s governor for two terms. He also owned a construction company that had more than 1,000 employees. </s> What If: Could Gary Johnson get hot and play the spoiler?

PHOENIX (AP) — Unpopular among many Americans, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have opened the door for a third-party spoiler in the presidential campaign — and just as Gary Johnson is starting to warm up.

Voters like Carlos Moreno could help him catch fire.

"I certainly don't want Trump to get in, but Clinton worries me," said Moreno, a registered Democrat who works as a process server in the Phoenix area. "I've thought about Johnson, but I haven't begun reading up on him. I better start."

The folksy Libertarian, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, is on the ballot in 50 states. Green Party nominee Jill Stein is on the ballot in about half. Neither is remotely within reach of carrying a state. Nor do Johnson or Stein appear to be in a position to tip any states toward Trump.

But there's a chance that Johnson could move a close race toward Clinton, in much the same way that Ralph Nader pulled enough votes away from Al Gore in 2000 to hand Florida to George W. Bush.

Of the roughly dozen battleground states on the road to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House, it's in Arizona where circumstances could align in just such a way that Johnson could play spoiler.

While Trump naturally has an edge as the Republican nominee — the GOP has carried the state in 11 of the past 12 elections — Johnson could steal enough votes away to allow Clinton to snag the state's 11 Electoral College votes.

In congressional elections in Arizona four years ago, Libertarian candidates drew enough votes away from GOP candidates to allow Democrats Ann Kirkpatrick and Kyrsten Sinema to win a pair of U.S. House races.

The state's junior senator, Jeff Flake, who had endeared himself to many Libertarians while serving in the House, won his bid for Senate that year, too.

"It could happen," said Flake. "Donald Trump has managed to make this an interesting state in terms of presidential politics, and not in the way that Republicans have wanted."

But the politics of third-party spoilers are complicated.

In an August CNN poll conducted in Arizona, likely Republican voters were slightly more likely than Democrats to say they'll support Johnson if he's on the ballot, 10 percent to 4 percent.

But Trump's advantage over Clinton in the poll actually widened slightly when Johnson was included, from 5 points to 7 points. That could indicate that Johnson gives a home to voters who feel closer to the Republican Party, but are not planning on supporting Trump even in a two-person race. </s> Purdue University President Mitch Daniels will have a public conversation with Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson on Sept. 13 on the university's campus in West Lafayette.

Johnson is a former two-term Republican govenor of New Mexico, and Daniels is a former two-term Republican governor of Indiana. Johnson's campaign said in a news release that each "is a strong advocate for small government and personal freedom."

Daniels has said he will not endorse a presidential candidate as part of his vow to avoid partisan political activity while he is president of Purdue.

"Conversations with Gary Johnson" will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at Loeb Hall. What the Johnson campaign described in a news release as an "arm chair forum" is co-sponsored by the Purdue chapter of Young Americans for Liberty.

Event reservations may be made at www.eventbrite.com/e/a-conversation-with-gary-johnson-at-purdue-tickets-27266302244.

Results of a Washington Post-SurveyMonkey poll released Monday show that Johnson "is poised to garner significant support" in the Nov. 8 election, the Post reported. He is favored by at least 15 percent of registered voters in 15 states, the newspaper said.

The poll found Johnson is preferred by 13 percent of Indiana voters, compared with 46 percent of Hoosier voters who favor Republican Donald Trump, 30 percent who favor Democrat Hillary Clinton, 5 percent who favor Green Party nominee Jill Stein and 6 percent who have no opinion. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party hopeful Jill Stein have failed to quality for the first planned U.S. presidential debate on Sept. 26, the Commission on Presidential Debates said on Friday.

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is seen during an interview before a rally in New York, U.S., September 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich

The commission, citing the averages the various candidates have achieved in selected polls, confirmed that Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton had met the criteria.

It also said that the vice presidential running mates of the two leading candidates were the only two to qualify for the vice presidential debate set for Oct. 4.

The first presidential debate will be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York and the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Using the average of five national polls, Clinton scored 43 percent, Trump 40.4 percent, Johnson 8.4 percent and Stein 3.2 percent, the commission said. Selection for the debates requires at least 15 percent support.

Johnson and Stein were both constitutionally eligible and had ballot access in enough states to theoretically win an electoral college majority, but missed the polling threshold.

Stein’s campaign website said she and her running mate Ajamu Baraka will both attend the first presidential debate, and urged supporters to join them. The campaign said it might ask supporters to attempt to escort the candidates into the debate in an action that “may lead to arrest — it is possible but not definite. There will be actions you can take with us at Hofstra that do not risk arrest.”

The campaign said it is “organizing nonviolent civil resistance training for this.”

Johnson said in a statement that: “I would say I’m surprised that the CPD has chosen to exclude me from the first debate, but I’m not.”

The commission was a private organization created by the Republican and Democratic parties “for the clear purpose of taking control of the only nationally televised presidential debates voters will see,” Johnson said.

The last time a third-party candidate was allowed to participate in the televised debates was in 1992, when Ross Perot met the requirements running as an independent. </s> Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson received the endorsement of a prominent Virginia paper in an editorial posted Saturday night, notching a Labor Day weekend win for his third party bid.

The glowing appraisal of Johnson's candidacy by the Richmond Times-Dispatch's editorial board contrasts the former New Mexico governor with Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic standard-bearer Hillary Clinton, both of whom lack the proper character traits to be president, the paper said.

"Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president," the editorial board writes.

The editorial board's backing of Johnson is also a break in its partisan leanings, as it has endorsed Republican candidates in every presidential election for the past 36 years.

Johnson performed poorly in Virginia during his 2012 effort, securing less than one percent of the state's vote . The ex-governor has said he hopes to break out this year due to the low favorability ratings for Trump and Clinton, and the paper followed that line of thinking.

The editorial also called for Johnson to join the nationally-televised debates alongside Trump and Clinton. The former governor has said repeatedly that he needs to make the general election debates to have any realistic chance at the White House. The presidential debate commission requires a candidate to reach an average of 15 percent in the polls it has selected. Johnson must rapidly improve his position to meet this threshold. CNN's latest poll of polls found Johnson sitting at an average of 9 percent nationwide, and a Quinnipiac poll from mid-August had Johnson at 12 percent in Virginia. </s> DENVER — The commission that oversees presidential debates has invited only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to the first presidential debate. It excluded two third-party candidates who had hoped the event could help them talk directly to an electorate unhappy with the two front-runners.

The Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement Friday that Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein were polling too low to qualify for the Sept. 26 event. The commission since 2000 has invited only candidates polling at 15 percent or above in an average of five polls. Johnson was at 8.4 percent and Stein at 3.2 percent.

Johnson, a former New Mexico governor and ex-Republican who is running with former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, has been pushing aggressively to get into the debate. He and Stein could still qualify for the two remaining ones in October if their poll numbers hit 15 percent, but that will be challenging without the national exposure of the debate.

In a statement, Johnson slammed the commission as a tool of the Democratic and Republican parties and vowed to make the October contests.

"The CPD may scoff at a ticket that enjoys 'only' 9 or 10% in their hand-selected polls, but even 9% represents 13 million voters, more than the total population of Ohio and most other states," Johnson said. </s> A prominent Virginia newspaper has endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson for president, giving a rebuke to the deeply unpopular major party candidates while trying to boost the third party contender's long-shot bid just weeks before the first presidential debate.

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The Richmond Times-Dispatch's endorsement is the first from a major newspaper for the former New Mexico governor, who is running out of time to reach the polling threshold necessary to join Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the main debate stage this fall.

"Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president," the editorial begins. "Fortunately, there is a reasonable -- and formidable -- alternative."

The paper, which has endorsed the Republican nominee for president every year for the last three decades, hailed Johnson's stances for limited government, social tolerance and individual freedom.

"More important, he's a man of good integrity, apparently normal ego and sound ideas," the editorial reads.

Still, Johnson must reach an average of 15 percent support in major polling in order to make the debate stage -- a threshold that Johnson himself has framed as make-or-break for landing his third-party candidacy in the White House.

"If the Commission on Presidential Debates wants to perform a real service to its country, it will invite Gary Johnson onto the big stage," wrote the paper's editorial board. "Why not take this chance to reject the binary choice between Clinton and Trump that was created by our two-party system?"

Johnson is currently polling around 10 percent in an average of polls that the debate commission will use.

Johnson has the backing of only one sitting member of the U.S. House -- with no sitting senators or governors. Other potential supporters like former Republican nominee Mitt Romney have remained on the sidelines. </s> Gary Johnson, struggling to move his poll numbers high enough to earn a spot in the presidential debates, is beginning his first television advertising of the 2016 campaign.

Despite unprecedented discomfort with the Republican nominee, Johnson, the Libertarian candidate and a former Republican governor of New Mexico, has so far failed to sufficiently consolidate the support of Republicans opposed to Donald Trump. And he has said his campaign is doomed if he does not meet the 15% threshold needed to reach the debate stage and the national audience it provides.

So after dedicating over $2 million to radio advertising, Johnson is headed to the big screen.

"The difference between the two of us and the other candidates running for president is that we've been there," says Johnson in the low-tech, direct-to-camera spot

"And done that," adds Johnson's running mate, former Republican Gov. Bill Weld of Massachusetts.

Rather than running national advertisements aimed at lifting his numbers in the national polls used to assess viability for the debates, Johnson so far is airing the two weeks of television time mostly in western states where his campaign has expressed confidence: Washington, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and New Hampshire. A pro-Johnson super PAC aired over $550,000 in television advertisements last month, but is currently not on the air. "Give us one term, America. If, after four years, you decide you don't like peace, prosperity and freedom, you can always vote a Trump or a Hillary back into office again," Johnson says. The first presidential debate will be held September 26.
Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson qualifies in Connecticut giving him ballot access to 48 states.