Libertarian Presidential candidate Gary Johnson.

Gary Johnson 2012

August 6, 2012. Anchorage. Presidential candidates don’t make it up to Alaska very often. Few voters, serious wilderness, 3 electoral votes and a history of voting Republican make it either a long-shot or a sure thing for candidates. But Alaska also has a fierce independent streak. And that’s why the Libertarian ticket has visited the state twice now. It’s part of Johnson’s apparent new strategy, along with unleashing the thousands of supportive blogs in America.

Bloggers and Alaskans have a number of qualities in common – a penchant to think for themselves, distrust of the government, skepticism of the national corporate media, and a history of voting independent in larger than normal numbers.

Johnson’s possible new strategy

Former two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson knows he must participate in the upcoming nationally televised Presidential debates to have a chance at winning in November. If he can make it a three-man race in the eyes of voters, the Libertarian Presidential nominee should see his poll numbers rocket up to a level on par with his Democrat and Republican opponents.

Read the July 12, 2012 edition of this column, ‘Gary Johnson moves onto Debate Phase of Campaign’ for more information.

But to get into the debates, he must be polling at least 15% nationally. With a corporate media black-out on his candidacy and few campaign contributions to make TV ad buys, the grassroots-powered Presidential candidate is showing his newest tactics.

Go independent

A look at Gary Johnson’s campaign stops shows hints of similarities. Alaska, Oregon, Idaho – they’re all western states (Johnson’s home turf), sparsely populated, and independent-leaning. The candidate appears to be targeting voters most open to his independent, libertarian views and his adventurous, outdoorsman lifestyle. He’s also going where he can get the greatest bang or his buck.

For example, to hit 15% in the polls in New York, he would have to change the minds of millions of voters. To hit 15% in parts of the Pacific Northwest, the number of people he needs to impact is only in the tens of thousands.

If one were to fast-forward 30 or 60 days, it’s plausible to see Gary Johnson sitting at 15% in the polls nationally. But chances are it will be because he’s hovering around 20-25 percent in his western, independent-leaning strongholds, while still polling below 10 percent in cities like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. Will that be enough to qualify Gary Johnson for an invitation to the debates? It’s tough to say.

Attention websites and bloggers

In an announcement yesterday, the Gary Johnson campaign appealed to bloggers and website owners everywhere to help them spread the word about Johnson’s candidacy. With such a large financial disadvantage compared to the Democrat Obama and Republican Romney, the Libertarian Party’s Johnson is reaching out to private citizens for help.

“We have widgets!” cried the email from senior Johnson adviser Ron Nielson, “and we have work to do.” Nielson starts by conceding, “We in the Gary Johnson 2012 campaign have known from Day 1 that we cannot depend upon the national news media to broadcast Gov. Johnson’s message of liberty, smaller government and non-intervention. We have known that the Internet and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, are key to our success.”

http://www.examiner.com/article/johnson-campaign-hits-alaska-asks-b...