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Johnson might also explain free trade to Democrats and Republicans, who insist on misleading the public. “Free market really is the answer,” he said in an interview in June. “It’s the answer to unifying the whole planet, in my opinion, and if China wants to subsidize the goods that it sells to the United States, who benefits from that? Well, we do. And at the end of the day, who pays for any sort of tariffs? We do.” Apparently he’s the only one willing to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.

Republicans and the country at large also need to hear someone in this campaign explain that nixing “waste, fraud and abuse” won’t save Social Security, as Trump says, and it’s patently irresponsible to expand benefits, as Hillary Clinton wants to do. It’s a shame neither of the major-party candidates are willing to show the voters the math.

Unfortunately, Johnson and running mate Bill Weld are averaging just a tad above 8 percent support; 15 percent is the cutoff for the presidential debates. The vast majority of Americans therefore won’t hear intelligent arguments in favor of entitlement reform and trade; Republicans won’t hear the conservative (not the nativist) argument on immigration.

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That’s a shame, but the fault lies not with the presidential debate commission. It has to draw a line somewhere. Even if it cut the requirement by a third to 10 percent, Johnson would not qualify. It will be up to Republicans, likely to be in the minority in at least one if not both houses, to advance responsible budget and trade legislation. If need be, the Democrats, White House and Republicans should get TPP done in the lame-duck session. As for immigration, perhaps losing another presidential election by a mile will compel the Republicans to stop pandering to the nonexistent white voters who were supposed to have stayed home in 2012 and instead support reasonable immigration reform that addresses security issues and provides a pathway to legalization. But don’t hold your breath.