Gary Johnson Poised For Debate Push With Ohio Ballot Access, Rising Financial Support

Media outlets want voters to believe that Libertarian Gary Johnson has plateaued in the polls and that his best days are behind him as the 2016 election nears. What these reports overstating the demise of the Johnson campaign fail to realize is that momentum has only just started to pick up.

Within the past week, Johnson has officially gained ballot access in Ohio as an independent. This boost, combined with a honed focus on the five polls that will be critical to his inclusion in the debates, has the Johnson campaign feeling good about its chances.

Cato Institute co-founder Edward Crane runs a SuperPAC known as PurplePAC that is set to launch a barrage of TV ads supporting Gary Johnson and taking aim at both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. According to Brian Doherty of Reason.com, the reported $1 million ad buy will be financed by options trader Jeff Yass, a former Rand Paul supporter.

It’s obvious that Gary Johnson knows he must stand out from the big government policies of Trump and Clinton to show voters that he has the nation’s best interests at heart. In a country increasingly divided by economic standing and social issues, it’s certainly welcoming to have a candidate like Johnson who differentiates himself from the status quo.

“Hillary Clinton is going to get into your pocketbook,” Johnson told the Columbus Dispatch. “Donald Trump appears he is going to get into your pocketbook and your bedroom.”

While government overreach in terms of social issues, such as marriage equality and marijuana legalization, are generally the focus of Gary Johnson’s campaign, the economy is arguably more important to the country as a whole. Johnson sees the entrepreneurial spirit of America being stifled by big government and regulations invented to stunt the growth of innovation rather than stimulate it.

There’s a reason why economists trust Gary Johnson over any other candidate in the 2016 election. Johnson shared his outlook on how to best keep the economy thriving and, surprise, surprise, it had nothing to do with government involvement — quite the opposite, actually.

“Government should stay out of the way, limiting its involvement to the Hippocratic Oath: ‘First, do no harm,'” Johnson told CNBC in a recent sit down. “But instead we’re seeing established politicians team up with special interests in an effort to strangle new forms of enterprise and innovation from gaining traction—and threatening those special interests.”

Industries that feel threatened by innovative competition for their seemingly entrenched monopolies just wave some money around via lobbyists and gain favor in legislation to maintain their control. Gary Johnson believes that these archaic ways are what continue to hold America back and prevent our country from thriving the way that it should.

There’s no denying that Trump had to use some political favors en route to gain his fortune, and Clinton has done so right under our noses as a public official using her own clout as justification. Johnson wants Americans to wake up and realize that these dying ways of the past must come to an end because, if not, we risk losing our standing as a nation to emulate and will fall under the category of “just another country.”

So as Johnson and his running mate, Bill Weld, preach a better future for America, their opponents are calling for more of the same policies that have sentenced our citizens to servitude and stagnation. Johnson shared a not-so-secret tidbit with everyone via CNBC that pervades his entire campaign based on freedom and individual liberty.

“Here’s the dirty little secret: The establishment isn’t really interested in making our lives easier or more convenient,” Johnson stated. “To the contrary, their self-interests are best served by protecting us to death.”

This form of control often goes overlooked by the majority of Americans, but as Gary Johnson points out, perhaps it is the most egregious of all. And with his recent placement on the ballot in Ohio and a slew of commercials set to reach the majority of Americans in the coming days, perhaps a real revolution with Gary Johnson as the captain is coming in the 2016 election.

[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]