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Libertarian Gary E. Johnson, who is on the presidential ballot in more than 40 states, successfully got onto Virginias last week as well despite a challenge from the state Republican Party.

But the former New Mexico governor was rather hard on himself when describing the evolution of his thinking on getting on ballots across the country, as he now faces similar challenges in other states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa.

I feel really naive looking back, he said. I guess I had a kind of Pollyannaish belief. Santa Claus is not coming. My tooth is going to go unclaimed. I cant believe.

He pointed to a recent Zogby poll that gave him 4.3 percent of the national popular vote, saying national media would almost be forced to cover his candidacy at least on Election Day if he pulled 5 percent of the vote.

Lets just say I got 5 percent on general-election day, he said. If that really happens, can you think of 5 percent going unreported?

We keep plugging away with the amount of money that we have, he added. If we just had money to compete with these guys for one week, youd see a gigantic bump.

For now, though, Mr. Johnson is willing to play the role of the happy warrior. He pulls no punches with either party (The debate about Medicare shouldnt be about which partys going to spend more on Medicare) and expressed particular disbelief that the war in Afghanistan essentially flew under the radar at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla., last month.

It is hilarious in a really bad way, he said. Its an indictment on all of us. Are we that stupid? We cant be that stupid.

Statehood karma?

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IN OTHER WORDS: Libertarian Gary Johnson still trying