Politics

Gary Johnson could receive 64 percent of general election vote, says Gary Johnson

Steven Nelson Associate Editor
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Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson discussed his presidential run as a Libertarian Party candidate Wednesday, saying that he could receive as much as 64 percent of the national popular vote.

Johnson, who ended his Republican presidential candidacy Wednesday, told The Daily Caller that “the notion here is to win, and people are going to say, ‘that just sounds crazy,’ but the notion here is to win and it is with a message that resonates.”

“I think the strategy from this point on is to really focus on where to go and visit and speak with the most people,” he said. “What I learned in New Hampshire is that you can knock on 100 doors, but if the media isn’t reporting that you’re knocking on 100 doors, instead of reaching potentially tens of thousand of people or a million people, you’re reaching 100 people.”

“That’s a change of strategy, to go to New York and go on a dozen national network outlets,” he explained. “That will be a lot more beneficial than knocking on doors in New Hampshire.”

Johnson said that he would not put a disproportionate focus on New Mexico, where the still-popular former governor recently polled at 23 percent as a Libertarian Party candidate against President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

During the interview, Johnson said that he was perhaps more likely to win over disaffected Democrats than would-be Republican voters, dismissing fears that he could be an election spoiler to the eventual Republican nominee.

Asked for the highest possible performance he could imagine in the general election, Johnson said “64 percent,” chuckling.

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