Gary Johnson's magic number: 15

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson campaigned in Tampa Friday where he implored a crowd to call national polling companies and encourage them to include him in their surveys.

"Just ask them to include my name," the former New Mexico GOP governor said, according to a Tampa Bay Times report. "That does not seem like such an onerous request."

Johnson needs to hit a 15 percent threshold in the polls to qualify for inclusion in the fall presidential debates, so it’s a big deal to his campaign.

As it turns out, Gallup periodically polls the names of all candidates who will appear on the ballot in a large number of states to gauge the level of third-party support. On Friday, in its first third-party measurement of 2012, the polling firm reported Johnson is the choice of 3 percent of registered voters.

Johnson’s status in the polls is an issue to watch as the 2012 campaign progresses, even if he continues to languish in national surveys.

Judging from several state polls taken earlier this year, Johnson’s base of support is in the Mountain West, where he has pulled in between 7 and 12 percent.

While support for third-party presidential candidates typically fades by Election Day, if he’s hitting anywhere near those numbers in the fall in states like Colorado and Arizona, that’s a problem for Mitt Romney.