{"id":178318,"date":"2016-08-21T19:37:50","date_gmt":"2016-08-22T01:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=178318"},"modified":"2016-08-22T09:27:26","modified_gmt":"2016-08-22T15:27:26","slug":"super-pacs-boost-libertarian-gary-johnsons-long-shot-presidential-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/08\/super-pacs-boost-libertarian-gary-johnsons-long-shot-presidential-bid\/","title":{"rendered":"Super PACs boost Libertarian Gary Johnson\u2019s long-shot presidential bid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_170271\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gageskidmore\/6184191171\/in\/photolist-aqtAzH-5HjvMe-deJnJ6-rt58on-8tMSps-9iovXJ-89x3aK-9WvN3E-9Sbh6k-9WvLnd-bUwRS4-9iowF3-dj6yWV-6JBB31-9iowoJ-8uX6mM-9PJUsi-deJne8-6terHX-r7KbQA-9RgcQ9-9Q2wrD-dBmSuv-dBsidw-r7HVbw-9Qvb1L-9KuiYK-dBmTs4-deJniX-6tum9T-9iow37-deJg5y-aquL4J-rpbtct-azBnSM-deJgxj-azBnoD-aquLmW-azE41W-dBsffy-vm32Ek-8xhKLX-deJgRg-deJnLY-dBsgwy-r7HGtq-dpNFun-deJh2p-deJo5t-dySraQ\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-170271 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Johnson-Gary-771x540.jpg\" alt=\"Gary Johnson\" width=\"771\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Johnson-Gary.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Johnson-Gary-336x235.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Johnson-Gary-768x538.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Gage Skidmore \/ Creative Commons<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Americans seeking an alternative to Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2015\/06\/16\/17488\/9-things-know-about-donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Donald Trump<\/a> and Democrat\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2015\/04\/12\/17107\/12-things-know-about-hillary-clinton\" target=\"_blank\">Hillary Clinton<\/a> are the target of new advertising campaigns by two Libertarian-aligned super PACs.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this summer, the Libertarian Party \u2014 which advocates an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lp.org\/platform\" target=\"_blank\">agenda<\/a> that is generally fiscally conservative and socially liberal \u2014 picked former New Mexico Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2016\/07\/05\/19881\/9-things-know-about-gary-johnson\" target=\"_blank\">Gary Johnson<\/a> as its presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/William_Weld\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Weld<\/a> as its vice presidential nominee.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This story comes from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2016\/08\/20\/20101\/super-pacs-boost-libertarian-gary-johnson-s-long-shot-presidential-bid\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a>, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative media organization in Washington, D.C. It\u2019s\u00a0part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/politics\/buying-president-2016\" target=\"_blank\">Buying of the President 2016<\/a>. Tracking the candidates, political committees and nonprofits that are making this presidential election the most expensive in history.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/politics\/buying-president-2016\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to read more stories in this investigation.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>So far this month, two super PACs backing the Libertarian ticket \u2014 known as Purple PAC and Americans Deserve Better \u2014 have combined to spend more than $100,000 on TV and radio ads to boost their profile, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Center for Public Integrity<\/a> has learned. And more ads are on the way.<\/p>\n<h3>The ads<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cAmerica deserves a better option than Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton,\u201d proclaims the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JlhG4a0anE0\" target=\"_blank\">new ad<\/a> from Purple PAC, which goes on to call Johnson the \u201chonorable choice,\u201d after touting him as committed to the Constitution, fiscal responsibility and freedom.<\/p>\n<p>For its part, Americans Deserve Better is trying to cast Johnson and Weld as \u201cthe adults\u201d in the 2016 presidential race.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have to choose between criminal or crazy,\u201d says a narrator in one of the group\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hwNFT47afNE\" target=\"_blank\">radio ads<\/a>. \u201cThis fall, vote for the adults, the candidates we can trust \u2014 Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The ads\u2019 sponsors<\/h3>\n<p>Americans Deserve Better is a brand new super PAC. The nascent group registered its website \u2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/votefortheadults.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">VoteForTheAdults.com<\/a> \u2014 on August 1. And it has yet to submit any filings with federal regulators.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lp.org\/geoffrey-j-neale\" target=\"_blank\">Geoff Neale<\/a>, a former chairman of the Libertarian National Committee who serves as Americans Deserve Better\u2019s treasurer, told the Center for Public Integrity that its required paperwork will soon be submitted to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fec.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">Federal Election Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <a href=\"http:\/\/purplepac.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Purple PAC<\/a> was formed in May 2013. It spent about $420,000 that year in Virginia\u2019s gubernatorial race, where it backed Libertarian <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_Sarvis\" target=\"_blank\">Robert Sarvis<\/a>, who garnered <a href=\"http:\/\/historical.elections.virginia.gov\/elections\/search\/year_from:2013\/year_to:2013\/office_id:3\" target=\"_blank\">6.5 percent<\/a> of the vote. And earlier this year, it spent about $670,000 supporting U.S. Sen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicintegrity.org\/2015\/04\/07\/17068\/12-things-know-about-rand-paul\" target=\"_blank\">Rand Paul\u2019s<\/a> unsuccessful GOP presidential bid.<\/p>\n<p>As super PACs, both Americans Deserve Better and Purple PAC may collect unlimited amounts of money from individuals, corporations or labor unions \u2014 so long as they don\u2019t coordinate their spending with the candidates they are seeking to aid.<\/p>\n<h3>Money in<\/h3>\n<p>Since its founding, Purple PAC has raised about $2 million. Nearly two-thirds of that \u2014 $1.25 million \u2014 has come from Philadelphia investor <a href=\"http:\/\/www.phillymag.com\/articles\/beating-the-odds\/?all=1\" target=\"_blank\">Jeff Yass<\/a>, a founder of the Susquehanna International Group who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.phillymag.com\/news\/2015\/08\/04\/rand-paul-jeff-yass\/\" target=\"_blank\">favored Paul<\/a>\u00a0in the GOP presidential race.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Other top donors to the super PAC include Philip Harvey, the head of sex toy company Adam and Eve, who has given $400,000; Richard Masson, the owner of a thoroughbred horse racing and breeding operation in Kentucky, who has given $250,000; and real estate investor Howard Rich, who has given $50,000.<\/p>\n<p>Harvey himself has also donated $2,700 to Johnson\u2019s presidential campaign committee.<\/p>\n<p>Purple PAC entered July with <a href=\"http:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/forms\/C00544569\/1085386\/\" target=\"_blank\">about $570,000<\/a> in its coffers, according to its most recent campaign finance disclosure.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, because it&#8217;s so new, it is unclear how much money Americans Deserve Better has at its disposal.<\/p>\n<p>Neale, the treasurer, said a &#8220;major donor\u201d had provided seed money to the group, but he declined to identify the funder.<\/p>\n<p>The nascent super PAC will not be required to publicly disclose its donors until later this fall.<\/p>\n<h3>Money out<\/h3>\n<p>Americans Deserve Better\u2019s ad strategy is starting with an experiment: It\u2019s focused on voters in the 2nd Congressional District of Maine. Maine is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.270towin.com\/content\/split-electoral-votes-maine-and-nebraska\/\" target=\"_blank\">one of two states<\/a> that awards Electoral College votes to the victor in each congressional district, rather than winner of the statewide popular vote.<\/p>\n<p>The group will be spending about $80,000 on a combination of broadcast, cable TV and radio ads in Maine during August, according competitive data provided to the Center for Public Integrity by ad tracking firm <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kantarmedia.com\/us\/our-solutions\/advertising-monitoring-and-evaluation\/political\" target=\"_blank\">Kantar Media\/CMAG<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Neale said that Maine was a good site to see \u201chow far we can move the needle.\u201d He added that hoped success there would \u201cinspire other donors to give more money\u201d to Americans Deserve Better.<\/p>\n<p>Purple PAC, too, is ramping up its efforts.<\/p>\n<p>It has so far spent <a href=\"http:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/pdf\/409\/201608169022452409\/201608169022452409.pdf#navpanes=0\" target=\"_blank\">about $35,000<\/a> on its pro-Johnson ad campaign, according to campaign finance filings. The group\u2019s ads have so far targeted viewers of Fox News, according to Kantar Media\/CMAG.<\/p>\n<p>Libertarian activist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cato.org\/people\/edward-crane\" target=\"_blank\">Ed Crane<\/a> \u2014 a co-founder of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cato.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cato Institute<\/a> in Washington, D.C., and the founder of Purple PAC \u2014 told the Center for Public Integrity that \u201cthere will be additional ad buys starting next week.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"main-body\">\n<div class=\"field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden clearfix\">\n<div class=\"field-items\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"field-item odd\">\n<div class=\"body-copy-inner\">\n<h3>Why it matters<\/h3>\n<p>Supporters of the Libertarian Party hope 2016 will be their moment to shine. Others worry Johnson could play spoiler in key battleground states.<\/p>\n<p>According to polls, Clinton and Trump are among the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/morningconsult.com\/trump-clinton-unpopular\/\" target=\"_blank\">least popular<\/a> presidential candidates in <a href=\"http:\/\/fivethirtyeight.com\/features\/americans-distaste-for-both-trump-and-clinton-is-record-breaking\/\" target=\"_blank\">recent history<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Four years ago, when Johnson was also the Libertarian Party\u2019s presidential nominee, he garnered only about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fec.gov\/pubrec\/fe2012\/federalelections2012.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">one percent of the vote<\/a> on Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>Now, however, he\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/epolls\/2016\/president\/us\/general_election_trump_vs_clinton_vs_johnson_vs_stein-5952.html#polls\" target=\"_blank\">typically polling<\/a> in high single digits or low double digits. If he can reach at least 15 percent in the polls, he <a href=\"http:\/\/www.debates.org\/index.php?page=overview\" target=\"_blank\">could qualify<\/a> to participate in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2016\/08\/debates-clinton-trump-johnson-stein-226806\" target=\"_blank\">official presidential debates<\/a> this fall. Not since businessman <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ross_Perot\" target=\"_blank\">Ross Perot&#8217;s<\/a> 1992 presidential campaign has an independent or minor party candidate earned a spot in a general election debate.<\/p>\n<p>Political observers say super PACs could help boost Johnson as a credible alternative to Trump and Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know there are disgruntled partisans on the right and left, so in some ways conditions are ripe for attracting people to vote for Johnson,\u201d said <a href=\"http:\/\/comm.tamu.edu\/johanna-dunaway\/\" target=\"_blank\">Johanna Dunaway<\/a>, an associate professor of communication at Texas A&amp;M University.<\/p>\n<p>But, she added: \u201cThe buys would have to be quite big to have an effect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neale, of Americans Deserve Better, is hopeful.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make the Libertarian Party a true player in the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So far this month, two super PACs backing the Libertarian ticket have combined to spend more than $100,000 on TV and radio ads. More ads are on the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[708,705,226,116],"class_list":["post-178318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2016-election","tag-money-in-politics","tag-presidential-race","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}