CLEVELAND - Gary Johnson says Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have gotten themselves just where he wants them. Each is packing the baggage of deep dislike among voters. Johnson is not weighed down by such scorn. Few people know him.

CLEVELAND � Gary Johnson says Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have gotten themselves just where he wants them.

Each is packing the baggage of deep dislike among voters. Johnson is not weighed down by such scorn. Few people know him.

The Libertarian Party presidential nominee says his anonymity is an advantage in a year in which voters dissatisfied with the choices could be shopping for an alternative to the Republican and the Democrat.

�I think our records and resumes will hold up and garner a lot more support going forward. It�s a perfect storm,� said Johnson, who served two terms as New Mexico�s fiscally conservative and socially liberal Republican governor from 1995 to 2003.

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Recent polling puts Johnson, along with running mate William Weld, a former Republican governor from Massachusetts, around the 13-percent mark � high cotton for a candidate who attracted 1 percent of the presidential vote in 2012.

Johnson is working the streets outside the national convention of his former party, racking up exposure with TV and newspaper interviews, including with The Dispatch on Thursday, and meeting supporters.

�Libertarians keep the government out of the bedroom and out of my pocketbook,� said Johnson, who believes in limited government, lower taxes and citizens� rights to generally do whatever they want, so long as it harms no one else.

�Hillary Clinton is going to get into your pocketbook. Donald Trump appears he is going to get into your pocketbook and your bedroom,� said the 63-year-old adventurer, who has competed in Ironman triathlons and climbed each of the highest peaks, including Mt. Everest, on each of the seven continents.

He faults Clinton as the �architect� of failed foreign policy in which U.S. troops too often are deployed into harm's way. Johnson said he is a �skeptic� about military intervention, which has contributed to �a less-safe world instead of a more-safe world.�

The Libertarian would cut military spending by 20 percent and believes ISIS has been "regionally contained" and will be destroyed as a terrorist threat.

Johnson would eliminate prison sentences for minor drug crimes and supports the legalization of marijuana. He used medicinal pot for three years after a near-fatal paragliding crash in 2005.

All immigrants who pass background checks and pay taxes would be welcomed, said the former border-state governor. "They are not murderers and rapists ... they are not taking jobs U.S. citizens want."

He concedes he has no chance of winning unless hegains the forum of the debates between Clinton and Trump to present his platform to what could the most-watched presidential debates in history. Johnson must hit an average of 15-percent support in five unspecified national polls to take the stage.

Johnson also hopes people will study the issues and candidates� stances, with many coming to the realization they are Libertarian � and don�t recognize it.

After his interview, Johnson walked blocks through a people-packed downtown. Only 20-year-old Shaun Bengali, of Toms River, N.J. recognized the minor-party candidate and requested a selfie that Johnson happily provided. �The Republican Party has abandoned me on social issues,� Bengali said. � I�m leaning Libertarian.�

rludlow@dispatch.com

@RandyLudlow