Mary Jo Pitzl, and Megan Janetsky

The Republic | azcentral.com

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson brought his message of free markets, social inclusion and military non-intervention to Phoenix Saturday, energizing a packed ballroom of supporters. Polls show a large share of voters in Arizona are uncertain about whom to back in the presidential race.

“I wholeheartedly agree with Donald Trump on his No. 1 issue in this campaign. I wholeheartedly agree with Hillary Clinton on her No. 1 issue in this campaign. Don’t vote for Clinton! Don’t vote for Trump!” Johnson said as the standing-room-only crowd cheered.

Johnson presented himself as the rational alternative, touting his growing appeal among independents, the military and millennials.

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“We are at this inflection point in America and we do have the chance to change things,” Johnson said.

The former New Mexico governor has received increased attention in recent months as the major-party candidates struggle to win over undecided voters. But the spotlight has been harsh, drawing attention to a series of Johnson's stumbles, including his unawareness of the civil war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, his inability to name a world leader he admired and a bizarre interview in which he spoke for a period while sticking out his tongue.

On Saturday, he shrugged off those missteps and sketched out what change would look like were he to win the White House: No tax hikes, no military intervention unless attacked and less government involvement in people’s lives.

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Johnson promoted the sharing economy, predicting the business model popularized by Uber could transcend all sectors: “It’s Uber, it’s Uber everything.”

He promised to be the “most frugal president” ever and said he would advocate for the elimination of a number of federal departments, including Education and Commerce.

He ridiculed the idea of building a wall along the Mexico border, saying the U.S. needs to embrace immigration and make it easier for anyone who wants to work in this country to get a work visa.

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“The No. 1 law enforcement we have is the smart phone,” he said, as people raised their smart phones to photograph the candidate and the crowd.

In a shout-out to Arizona’s ballot question on legalizing recreational marijuana, Johnson urged people to vote for Proposition 205.

Pivoting off his latest gaffe, when he couldn’t name a world leader he admired, Johnson said questions like that, or pop quizzes on world geography, are trivial and anger him.

“When you consider we are gauging our leaders on their ability to answer those questions, when they’re not answering questions on our military interventions, and regime change and we’ve put ourselves in this horrible, horrible position of being the world’s policemen…that is untenable and that has to stop,” he said.

Besides, he said, he still can’t think of a world leader he admires.

His comments drew repeated applause from the crowd, and occasional boos when he mentioned Clinton or Trump.

But not every statement was widely embraced: There was mixed reaction when he talked about legalizing drugs and when he expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement, noting Blacks are being shot at six times the rate of Whites.

But Johnson drew hearty applause and laughs when he called out a Trump supporter who tried to storm the stage waving a Trump-Pence sign and then tried to take a selfie.

Outside the rally, party volunteers urged people to register, or re-register, to vote as Libertarian.

Tina Batt made the switch this summer, leaving the Republican Party in disgust after it nominated Trump for president.

“Did you notice there was no violence?” she asked, contrasting the Johnson event with Trump rallies. "This crowd is peaceful, respectful. There was humor and everyone had a nice time."

The Saturday rally opened with an invitation for everyone to turn to the person standing next to them and introduce themselves to show support for the candidate. An August poll showed Johnson had the support of 6.9 percent of the voters surveyed, while another 22.9 percent were undecided on the presidential race.

Clinton, the former secretary of State, led Trump, the celebrity billionaire, 35.1 percent to 33.5 percent among likely voters, well within the Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

Jon Bailey, 25, said he started the @patriotsforgary Twitter account to rally support for Johnson.

“This is a new American revolution," Bailey said.

"The first American revolution was against Britain and it was fought with bayonets and muskets. This new American revolution is one that is fighting for liberty around the world and this is just the start," he said. "Instead of weapons, our tools are social media. Our arsenal that we’re fighting with is hashtags."

Will Mennie, a University of Arizona student who chairs his campus' chapter in support of Johnson and his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, was impressed at the turnout. The event was also live streamed on Facebook and Johnson later said it drew 361,000 viewers.

Mennie said it's foolish to think that a vote for the Libertarian ticket would be a waste. Repeating a line Johnson has used often, he said, "Throwing your vote away would be voting for a candidate you don’t believe in.”

Kathy Wright of Tempe said she had never attended a political rally before Saturday, but wanted to show support for Johnson, whom she decided to vote for two months ago after her son made her realize there was an alternative to Clinton and Trump.

"I couldn't see voting for either of them," she said of the major-party candidates.

In an earlier news conference, Johnson said he is in the race through Election Day, and rejected any suggestion that he would drop out and throw his support to either Trump or Clinton.

He called Clinton qualified to run for president, but not Trump.

“I don’t think he has a grasp at all on what it takes to be president of the United States," Johnson said of Trump.

He conceded he won't make it to the debate stage with Clinton and Trump, but said his problem is one of exposure, not the lack of an appealing message.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl