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22nd October 2012, 10:19 AM
BREAKING: Gary Johnson files a second lawsuit against "Commission on Presidential Debates"
On Friday, the Libertarian presidential ticket of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and former California Superior Court judge Jim Gray filed another lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates to attempt to force their way into the foreign policy debate tonight.
This lawsuit argues that Gary Johnson has met the 15% polling requirement for inclusion in the debates because polls that have included only President Obama and Gov. Johnson have showed Johnson with much more than 15% support. This is because polls that exclude the name of one candidate (Republican nominee Mitt Romney) should be just as valid as polls that exclude the name of another candidate (Johnson).
“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,”
said Alicia Dearn, attorney for the Johnson campaign.
This is the second lawsuit that the Johnson campaign has filed against the Commission on Presidential Debates. Their first lawsuit, filed on Friday, September 21, accused the CPD, Democratic Party, and Republican Party of violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, which prohibits certain business activities that reduce competition, and requires the federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of being in violation. The first lawsuit may still be successful in breaking up the CPD's stranglehold on presidential debates for future election cycles, but it has not succeeded at its goal of preventing the CPD from excluding third party candidates from this year's debates.
If this second lawsuit is successful in getting an injunction within the next few hours, the debate tonight will either expand to include Johnson or be canceled.
http://www.libertylaundry.org/
On Friday, the Libertarian presidential ticket of former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and former California Superior Court judge Jim Gray filed another lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates to attempt to force their way into the foreign policy debate tonight.
This lawsuit argues that Gary Johnson has met the 15% polling requirement for inclusion in the debates because polls that have included only President Obama and Gov. Johnson have showed Johnson with much more than 15% support. This is because polls that exclude the name of one candidate (Republican nominee Mitt Romney) should be just as valid as polls that exclude the name of another candidate (Johnson).
“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,”
said Alicia Dearn, attorney for the Johnson campaign.
This is the second lawsuit that the Johnson campaign has filed against the Commission on Presidential Debates. Their first lawsuit, filed on Friday, September 21, accused the CPD, Democratic Party, and Republican Party of violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890, which prohibits certain business activities that reduce competition, and requires the federal government to investigate and pursue trusts, companies, and organizations suspected of being in violation. The first lawsuit may still be successful in breaking up the CPD's stranglehold on presidential debates for future election cycles, but it has not succeeded at its goal of preventing the CPD from excluding third party candidates from this year's debates.
If this second lawsuit is successful in getting an injunction within the next few hours, the debate tonight will either expand to include Johnson or be canceled.
http://www.libertylaundry.org/