Libertarian candidate seeks media favor

Over the weekend, Hillary Clinton’s opponent picked up a noteworthy endorsement in the key state of Virginia. The Richmond Times-Dispatch endorsed not Donald Trump, but Libertarian candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson.

“Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional ethics we have every right to expect of an American president,” the paper’s editorial stated. The editorial board also insisted Johnson be allowed on the stage in the first general election cycle presidential debate on Sept. 26.

To make the cut, Johnson has to average at least 15 percent in major polls leading into the debate. He told Fox News that’s tough to pull off because his name is buried in most of those polls, if it’s included at all.

“I think if I was included in the top line of those polls that I’d be at 20 percent tomorrow. But, [I’m] not in the top line, maybe the 3rd or 4th question in about half the polls, and then 99 percent of the media just reports the top line. So for 70 percent of America, I’m not even in the race,” Johnson said.

Johnson added he had no problem with the 15 percent polling threshold for the first debate, but he was frustrated with the lack of media coverage he received so far.

According to the Media Research Center, between Jan. 1 and the end of August, major network evening news has spent nearly 1,800 minutes reporting on Donald Trump, about 1,000 minutes on Hillary Clinton, and just 11 seconds on Gary Johnson. Independent Evan McMullin and Green Party candidate Jill Stein also received less than a minute of combined evening news coverage on the major networks.

That makes the endorsement from the Richmond newspaper even more significant for Johnson. Since he has been close to 10 percent in national polls, he probably deserves more attention than he’s gotten thus far.

Listen to “White House Wednesday” on the Sept. 7, 2016, episode of The World and Everything in It.