As I mentioned on Facebook last night after coming home from the Belknap County Republican Committee’s annual M/S Mt. Washington cruise:
#WMUR #FAIL learned tonight on the Belknap County Republican annual Mt. Washington cruise that they are excluding Gov. Gary Johnson. The ‘Grok may not agree with the Gov. on all the issues, but given the wide disparity of poll percentages among the many candidates, this is a petty action by WMUR. This reflects badly on WMUR on a guy that has well thought out stances.
And may open the door to WBIN-TV?
My response still is that WMUR, CNN, and the Union Leader are in the wrong on this. All one has to do is look at the polls to see that most of the Prez Wannabees are tightly bunched together – there is little credibility to use those poll numbers as a cut-off mechanism at this stage of the campaign season.
However, Gov. Johnson IS a viable contender at this point in time. While the conservative Union Leader may not like his social stances, the fairly Left leaning CNN should be embracing him as he certainly stands apart from most of the others, as they love to bash Republicans in general. And unlike Gov. Huntsman, he has been in NH for quite some time, has hardworking boots on the ground, and has been making the rounds doing the "retail politiking" as often as anyone else (in fact it is he, Pawlenty, and Santorum that have spent the most time thus far here in NH).
Now, I can certainly agree that while bozo Andy Martin should be excluded – hey, you want to legally threaten other Republicans, you get what you get – Gov. Johnson has thoughtful and thought out stances and can defend them well. I know this as I have interviewed him several times now. He is a likable guy, a friendly guy – and a smart guy.
GraniteGrok joins in with the other calls for him to be included in the June 13th Debate. After all, it is those voting in the Republican Party that should determine who the nominee should be – and not the old time media.
