Gary Johnson could care less if his quixotic run for the presidency costs Republicans the Senate.
“I’ve always believed that Republicans are mostly about smaller government. But of late? Not at all,” the Libertarian candidate says matter-of-factly about the party he once championed as GOP governor of New Mexico. “What’s to crash? What’s to ruin? What’s to spoil?”
With Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump making history as the least liked candidates in the modern era — both sport unfavorable ratings topping 50 percent — Johnson and his Green Party counterpart Jill Stein are getting a fresh look from disaffected voters. Whether they draw enough support to swing the general election remains to be seen, but their presence on the ballot could play an outsized and unpredictable role in the undercard: The battle for the Senate.
According to the latest poll data, they’re already getting some traction. The latest rolling averages from RealClearPolitics give Johnson about 8 percent and Stein 4 percent nationally, with Johnson also drawing statistically significant support in battle ground states like Florida and Pennsylvania.
Top strategists in both parties openly admit they’re perplexed about how third-party and independent voters will cast their ballots in Senate contests and battleground House races. Disgruntled Ted Cruz or Bernie Sanders supporters may toss out protest votes for third-party presidential candidates, while sticking with their party in the battle for control of the Senate. Or Libertarian and Green Party voters might decline to vote for Democratic or GOP Senate candidates — some might not even cast a downballot vote at all — moves that would have negligible effect on the battle for the upper chamber.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/3rd-party-congressional-races-225881#ixzz4FHYx1Ic2
“Quixotic” is one of the mainstream medias favorite slanders of anyone working outside of the two parties that are tied into the mainsream media outlets.