Gary Johnson polls are surging in battleground states as the Libertarian candidate is doing all that he can to try to be a part of the presidential debates come September. According to Reason, Johnson is starting to see a steady uptick in popularity. In Virginia, for example, Johnson was at 10 percent in July, but has increased to 12 percent in August. In the state of Colorado, Johnson is already at 15 percent — his key number.

Gary Johnson needs an overall 15 percent in order to be permitted to take part in the upcoming debates. According to the Guardian, the former governor of New Mexico seems to think that he has a real shot at taking away major votes from Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R). Although there are two other people currently running third-party campaigns (Jill Stein and Evan McMullin), the focus seems to be on Johnson, and his name is being thrown around a lot more these days.

Gary Johnson knows that it is not going to be easy to win on November 8, but he also knows that he wants to give the American people a third option because he feels that Clinton and Trump aren’t ideal candidates in the minds of many registered voters.

And to those who say that voting for a third-party candidate is a “wasted vote,” well, Johnson has an answer for that, too.

“A wasted vote is voting for somebody you don’t believe in. That’s a wasted vote. Vote for the person you believe in – that’s how you bring about change. I hope after having made my pitch today that you’ll realize, if you want to waste your vote on Clinton or Trump, have at it,” he said.

Gary Johnson polls have not grown exponentially, but they have grown enough that he is very much still in this race. While many don’t think that this guy has a shot — and while he may not win the election, it’s clear that 15 percent of votes going to him could absolutely swing it in another candidate’s favor.

Question being, of course, is who will benefit from Johnson voters?

“Only once in recent election cycles have third party candidates had any significant influence when in 1992, Texan businessman Ross Perot took 18 [percent] of the vote, carving into the support for incumbent Republican George HW Bush and helping Arkansas governor Bill Clinton to victory. Some Democrats blamed third-party candidate Ralph Nader for delivering George W Bush the election in 2000, but the third-party candidate won a paltry 2.74 [percent] of the vote, and his supporters were split between Republicans and Democrats.”

While Gary Johnson polls continue to surge in key states, the rest of the country seems to be keeping a very close eye on what’s happening with Clinton and Trump. According to USA Today, young voters are leaning toward voting for Hillary Clinton. A great deal. Apparently, those Bernie Sanders supporters that Donald Trump was counting on have shifted gears and are ready to support the Democratic candidate.

“[A new USA Today/Rock the Vote Poll] shows Clinton trouncing Trump 56 [percent]-20 [percent] among those under 35, though she has failed so far to generate the levels of enthusiasm Sanders did — and the high turn-out that can signal — among Millennials.”

Given this information, do you think that Gary Johnson has a shot come November 8? Do you think Johnson should be able to get to the 15 percent in order for him to debate with Clinton and Trump next month? What do you make of the young voters (and many former Bernie Sanders supporters) starting to support Clinton? Sound off in the comments below.

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