The Libertarian Opening

Once again, the New York Times buries the lede. In a fine piece by Alan Rappeport, they hide the negative for Hillary Clinton, while blasting the negative for Donald Trump.

The headline: "Gary Johnson, Libertarian Candidate, Sees Opening Created by Donald Trump".

And now, as Paul Harvey used to say, is the rest of the story (red bold part added by me):

Mr. Johnson, who garnered more than a million votes as the Libertarian Party’s nominee in 2012, attracted attention last month after a national Monmouth University poll included him in a hypothetical general election matchup with Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump. He drew the support of 11 percent of voters, raising the possibility that if his numbers continue to pick up, he could be eligible to participate in the presidential debates this fall.

Patrick Murray, who runs the Monmouth poll, said Mr. Johnson remained largely unknown to the general public and attributed his surprisingly strong poll numbers to displeasure with the major-party candidates. He performed best in red states, but over all appeared to siphon slightly more support away from Mrs. Clinton. 

So why is Trump's name on the headline? Oh wait, I forgot....The New York Times is decidedly biased towards the Clintons. Even Bernie Sanders gets the Rodney Dangerfield treatment from the NYT. If Sanders gets treated like dirt by the Times, Trump will get the "red-headed stepchild who just bathed the dog in poop and left a racoon in his parent's bed" treatment.

Regardless, at least the Times is recognizing the Libertarian Party's existence. We can thank the Republicrats and Democans for picking such high caliber candidates, such as Donald "Primal Scream" Trump and Hillary "Dillinger" Clinton.

Speaking of Libertarians, here are links to the two-part Libertarian debate which aired on Fox Business over the last two Fridays:

Part 1:
 

Part 2
:

Just my opinion, but I thought Austin Petersen owned the first debate, while Gary Johnson looked much better in the second one (although Petersen was still excellent in the second debate).

John McAfee came off looking like his nickname should be "The Big Kahuna". I didn't disagree with him, but he just looked like he would be more comfortable on a beach with a surfboard.

Even though Petersen's qualifications for president are wafer-thin, the guy debates VERY well. I could see him owning a debate against Trump and/or Clinton. He was just that polished.

On the other hand, Gary Johnson isn't the smoothest debater, but he has the experience to make his candidacy valid.

If the Libertarians pick either of these guys in their convention at the end of May, I will happily vote for them.