Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson makes his case for the White House

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson said his biggest roadblock to the White House is name recognition.

In an interview with ABC7, the former governor of New Mexico said 60 percent of Americans didn't know he was running for president and he hoped to change that before Nov. 8.

"People would actually recognize that, 'Gosh, these two guys (Gary Johnson and William Weld) are actually reflective of what I think,'" Johnson said. "The message is reflective of 60 percent of America... being fiscally conservative, socially inclusive, skeptical regarding our military interventions, skeptical when we support regime change and supportive of free markets."

The Libertarian also disputed the claim by President Barack Obama that a vote for anyone besides Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was a vote for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

"A vote for somebody you don't believe in is a wasted vote. The only way you're going to change things is if you vote for the person that you believe in," Johnson said.

VIDEO: Watch the full interview with Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson

Johnson weighed in on Proposition 64, the California ballot measure that would legalize, regulate and tax recreational marijuana.

The bill is backed by a 51 percent to 40 percent margin, according to the latest Eyewitness News poll conducted by SurveyUSA.

Johnson said Californians should pass the measure.

"Vote 'yes.' The number one category of arrests in this country in the last year is still marijuana," he said. "You may disagree with a person's use of marijuana, but are they criminal as long as they haven't done any harm to anyone else? That should really be the issue."

"Treating marijuana similar to alcohol. It's no excuse to get impaired and do harm to others," Johnson continued. "That will never be an excuse to do harm to others. But just equate this along the same lines as alcohol, and you really can't equate marijuana and alcohol because marijuana is a lot safer than alcohol."

Johnson has pulled in just under 10 percent in several national polls. He said he was staying in the race because he believed he could help unite political leaders to bring about change.

"Will the polarity in Congress, with Trump or Clinton getting elected, will that get any better? I don't think anyone believes that," Johnson said.

"Bill Weld and myself, the Libertarian nominees for president, we're going to hire an administration that is non-partisan, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians," he continued. "I think we have the opportunity to say, 'Hey, come on. Here's some leadership. Let's come to the table and deal with issues that are facing this country.'"