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It's difficult for a marginalized presidential candidate to get attention without saying or doing something embarrassing. For the most part, former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson isn't one of those fringe candidates, but--as The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf has noted here, here and here--he isn't getting media share like the better-known, backed, and funded GOP contenders. So he's clearly been trying to create his own buzz, with mixed results.
Today, Johnson made news for launching a new website catered to gamblers before his trip to Las Vegas on Thursday, of which CNN briefly noted: "Gary Johnson is trying to hold 'em - poker players." The site was only his latest effort to get a little bit of attention, and we've noticed a few similar PR moves of his recently. Here's our quick list.
- Appealing to Poker Players and Heading to the World Series of Poker Party - Take a look at Gary Johnson's special website set up to help raise funds from those who don't think the federal government should be "involved in restricting lawful commerce that doesn't harm anyone," (i.e. gambling) as he put it on the site. It's a little Ron Paul-esque, but seems to have the intended effect: Matthew Kredell, a writer at Poker News noted "Even today, only a fringe candidate would go out on that ledge to court poker players. But for any candidate at all to see value in the poker vote is progress."