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IPFS News Link • Politics: Democratic Campaigns

Gary Johnson cuts into Clinton's lead

• Gabriel Debenedetti

NEW YORK — Gary Johnson was never supposed to be a problem for Hillary Clinton.

The low-profile Libertarian's presence on the ballot would serve as an easy out for #NeverTrump Republicans, Democrats aligned with the nominee have long figured, and that could only hurt Donald Trump.

But as national and battleground polls tighten and Democrats' hand-wringing grows more urgent, operatives both within and allied with Clinton's political operation who are looking around to explain Trump's new polling strength are growing increasingly wary of the former New Mexico governor. His appeal with young and libertarian-leaning liberals, they worry, could create a growing headache for them in western states like Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona — if not yet reason to believe he could hand the states to Trump.

For now, Clinton's national team and Democrats close to them chalk up Johnson-focused concerns to classic liberal panic, especially as they think his window is closing. While a new national Quinnipiac poll this week showed 60 percent of Clinton voters and 50 percent of Trump voters want to see Johnson on the debate stages — and while his campaign placed a full-page New York Times ad to that effect on Wednesday — his chances of reaching the polling threshold are vanishing rapidly. Top Clinton officials long expected Trump to agitate to get Johnson on the stage, but the Republican nominee has said he doesn't want that to happen.

A handful of recent polls show Johnson drawing evenly from Trump's and Clinton's support — not just whittling down Trump's.


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