Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks while President Barack Obama makes notes at the first Presidential debate at the University of Denver's Ritchie Center on October 3, 2012 in Denver. UPI/Gary C. Caskey

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Published: Oct. 4, 2012 at 12:28 AM

DENVER, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson said Wednesday's debate between U.S. President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney wasn't really a debate.

The former New Mexico governor said in a statement Romney and Obama's debate in Denver provided "two slightly differing versions of defending the Republican and Democrat status quo that has given us war after war after war, a $16 trillion debt, and a government that is the answer to everything."

"Nowhere was there a real plan for reducing government, balancing the budget any time in the foreseeable future, or a path that will actually put Americans back to work," Johnson said. "We heard two politicians arguing over which of their plans for government-run health care is less bad. We heard fantasies about balancing the budget while not reducing Medicare costs."

Johnson said the two candidates were merely "nibbling around the edges of the nation's problems."

"We don't have time to nibble -- we need to devour them," he said. "Americans deserve real debates and a voice who will actually tell the truth about what it will take to put this great nation back on track."

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Libertarian Gary Johnson pans debate