I just talked with former Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, who conceded
the fact that tomorrow's presidential debate will go on without him
despite the fact he filed an antitrust lawsuit in an effort to be
included.Johnson's suit, filed last month in federal court in California, invokes the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act to force the Commission on Presidential Debates to include all candidates who are on enough state ballots to get 270 electoral votes to have a spot on the debate state.
Johnson is on the ballot in 47 states so far, plus Washington, D.C.
"It appears we will be excluded from the first debate," Johnson told The New Mexican. He said the court so far has taken no action on the suit.
"It's possible the court could act in time for me to be in the second and third debates," he said.
The commission's rule that all candidates must be polling at least at a level of 15 percent is the reason Johnson was not invited to the debates.
Johnson's suit quotes a former head of the League of Women Voters who describes the establishment of the debate commission as a "conspiracy" by the Democratic and Republican parties to "hoodwink the American people."
While Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are debating in Denver tonight, Johnson said he’ll be in Chicago where he’ll be participating in an online Google Plus event. He also said he’ll be tweeting his reactions to the debate.
Johnson's antitrust suit is below:
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