Libertarian Party eyes spoiler role in 2012 race
We all know this could affect Romneys advantage is swing states. To be perfectly honest, to avoid this useless diversion, they should promise Johnson a an active role in the administration, should Romney win.
Read more: Libertarian Party eyes spoiler role in 2012 race | Fox NewsHe was rating at 13 percent in New Mexico and 9 percent in Arizona in recent polling -- not enough to win, but certainly enough to disadvantage whichever major-party candidate he's drawing votes away from.
The Libertarian Party is now touting that possibility. An emailed statement from the organization earlier this week carried a rather sensational subject line: "Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gov. Gary Johnson Could Deprive Mitt Romney of 5 battleground states, 74 Electoral Votes, 27% of the Electoral Votes needed to win in 2012."
Libertarians reasoned Johnson, then, "could determine the winner" of the election.
It's impossible to gauge at this point what effect Johnson could have, but of course it's not unprecedented for a third-party candidate to tilt the scales.
In 1992, third-party candidate Ross Perot won roughly 19 percent of the popular vote, which many people think cut into GOP incumbent George H.W. Bush's take and put Democratic candidate Bill Clinton in the Oval Office with just 43 percent of the vote.
"He's going to be a problem for somebody, somewhere," political strategist and Fox News contributor Joe Trippi wrote last month. "We don't yet know which candidate he might harm the most -- but both campaigns should be looking over their shoulders at that guy almost nobody is talking about."
We all know this could affect Romneys advantage is swing states. To be perfectly honest, to avoid this useless diversion, they should promise Johnson a an active role in the administration, should Romney win.