 *** UPDATE *** Gary Johnson -- who failed to file by proxy today while he was campaigning in Arizona -- is taking a red eye to New Hampshire and will file in person first thing in the morning at the State House in Concord. New Hampshire is the place where we can create momentum," Ron Nielson, a senior advisor to the former New Mexico governor, wrote last month.The strategy was well on track until Johnson nearly failed to qualify for the New Hampshire primary ballot.Friday is the final day of the two-week filing period for candidates to land on the New Hampshire primary ballot. "He'll be filing in person," Johnson's New Hampshire coordinator, Brinck Slattery, said in an email.Nielson had outlined the "New Hampshire Path" in a memo on Sept. 6. The requirements are simple, and intentionally so: Just submit a one-page declaration of candidacy and the $1,000 filing fee.But as of Thursday evening, Johnson had not yet completed that task. His campaign blamed that on planned robo-calls not being executed in time. Trying to show how important New Hampshire was to him in his presidential campaign plans, Johnson rented a home in Manchester. As of today, 24 Republicans and 12 Democrats are on the ballot for the New Hampshire primary.
– Gary Johnson complains he gets no respect in his longshot bid for the GOP nomination. Yeah, and this won't help: His campaign realized late yesterday it still hadn't filed for the New Hampshire primary, and today is the deadline, reports the Los Angeles Times. Johnson cleared his schedule to take a red-eye to the state himself and do so in person. Looks like he'll make it just ahead of a storm, notes the New York Times. "The technical term is that we screwed up," his communications director tells NBC. What's worse is that what little chance the former New Mexico governor has is predicated on doing well in the Granite State. The strategy is called "the New Hampshire Path," but it does require actually being on the ballot.