Gary Johnson Looks Ahead to 2016, Wants Third Parties in Debates

Former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico, who was the Libertarian Partys presidential nominee in 2012, is looking ahead to 2016, calling for more inclusion for third party candidates in presidential campaigns, including being included in the debates.

The most powerful weapon the two major parties use to exclude other candidates from serious consideration is their Commission on Presidential Debates, Johnson insisted on Monday. Yes, that Commission, regardless of its official-sounding name, is theirs. It was created in 1987 by the Republican and Democrat national parties, and is a private organization funded by special interests and run by a board of -- you guessed it -- Republicans and Democrats. There is nothing nonpartisan about it, and they have made no secret of their desire to keep anyone other than their own two nominees off the debate stage.

Johnson and his Our American Initiative are mounting an aggressive campaign to break up the Republican-Democrat control of the nationally-televised presidential debates including releasing a new video.

Our effort is two-fold, Johnson explained. First, we are challenging the Commission on Presidential Debates in court, and second, we plan to inform and mobilize people from all over the country to let debate sponsors, the news media and others know that allowing the two major parties to control the all-important debates is simply not fair -- and not acceptable.