Last week, we released our exclusive one-on-one interview with Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson via individual segments, grouped thematically. We quizzed Johnson on his view of the 2016 race and his limited government achievements, on immigration policy, on the federal judiciary and social issues, on taxes, Obamacare, and fiscal reforms, and on the Second Amendment and foreign policy. If you'd prefer to watch our full and uninterrupted exchange, here it is, clocking in at just over 44 minutes:
My thanks go out to Gov. Johnson for his willingness to join us for a lengthy, wide-ranging discussion -- and to Townhall's video guru Leigh Wolf, whose hard work on this project is evident in its professionalism and timeliness. Parting thought: Our discussion one week ago was recorded just after New Mexico's former chief executive met with the editorial board of a major newspaper in Virginia. Days later, the Richmond Times-Dispatch endorsed Johnson over Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. A slice of the editors' reasoning:
In this autumn of our electoral discontent, hope springs, as it so often does in the American republic, from unexpected precincts. Much of the country is distressed by the presidential candidates offered by the two conventional political parties. And for good reason. Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president. Fortunately, there is a reasonable — and formidable — alternative. Gary Johnson is a former, two-term governor of New Mexico and a man who built from scratch a construction company that eventually employed more than 1,000 people before he sold it in 1999. He possesses substantial executive experience in both the private and the public sectors...Americans across the political spectrum worry that our once-great institutions no longer work in the interests of the people — and sometimes don’t work at all. Why not take this chance to reject the binary choice between Clinton and Trump that was created by our two-party system? We strongly urge the debate commission to invite Johnson onto the stage to give voters an opportunity to hear his positions, to evaluate his temperament, and, perhaps most important, to compare him with the candidates nominated by the two traditional parties. We are confident that, if given the opportunity to make his case, Gary Johnson will persuade millions of Americans that he is the most capable and ethical candidate running this year.
Gov. Johnson currently enjoys roughly eight percent support in public four-way polling. A recent IBD/TIPP poll shows him pulling in 12 percent of the national vote, just a few percentage points shy of the polling average threshold required to be included in the debates starting later this month.