Libertarian Party candidates Gary Johnson and Bill Weld pitched themselves as the antidote to Washington partisanship in a CNN town hall, hoping to appeal to voters frustrated with both the Republican and the Democratic presidential nominees.

Both are former Republican governors — Johnson from New Mexico and Weld from Massachusetts — and told CNN's Anderson Cooper they align with most voters on both fiscal and social issues.

In Gary Johnson’s first run for the presidency in 2012, as the Libertarian Party candidate, he won just under 1 percent of the popular vote. He did not surpass 3 percent in any state.

That’s not exactly a strong showing. But 2016 could prove more favorable because of the unpopularity of both major party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Mr. Johnson is at roughly 10 percent in recent polls, well above where he was in 2012. The question, of course, is whether it will have any impact.

Is This a Lot?

The Libertarian Party presidential ticket of former Republican governors Gary Johnson (N.M.) and William Weld (Mass.) succeeded in seeming human, humane, decent, calm, and at least compared to their major party competitors, thoughtful this evening at their second CNN Town Hall.

But I'm not sure they succeeded in seeming very Libertarian, or selling the Party's position as a distinct outlook on politics and government that someone could grasp and understand.