There’s a lot of talk about Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and how he’ll have to be talked into supporting Donald Trump. A lot of people are rushing to his side. And then, next week, when the two meet, the charade will be over, Ryan will say he is now convinced that he can work with Trump, and the two of them will be the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan. Or not.
An alternative reality might be forming. For months now, since it has been clear that Donald Trump would likely sew up the nomination, there has been talk of running a third-party candidate—who is a “real Republican.” Shades of 1912, when former Republican President Teddy Roosevelt ran third-party against incumbent Republican President Howard Taft–because he didn’t think Taft was liberal enough.
Of course, that was 1912. In 2016, it would be because Donald J. Trump may not be conservative enough, according to Newsmax.
A third-party candidate – even an unsuccessful one – could at least prevent Donald Trump from being the only face of conservatism for the next six months, says Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol. . .
Trump’s brash personality and insults to people will end up being at least one face of conservatism at least until the general election, Kristol said, but an alternative – even if he or she goes down in defeat – could provide an alternative narrative of conservatism. . .
If no one emerges as a third-party candidate, Kristol said he’ll likely just write someone in.
Kristol is not alone, according to HotAir. There’s also Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse.
“The people deserve better than these two terrible choices,” [Sasse] tweeted last night. But why? The people nominated these two dial-tones (or will soon, in Hillary’s case). If the majority of Republicans who didn’t vote for Trump thought they deserved better, they would have coalesced behind Cruz or someone else earlier in the process. . .
Sasse hinted (but didn’t flatly state) that he’s not the guy to lead a party like that this year, in case you think that’s his angle in trumpeting an independent candidacy. He mentioned Tom Coburn’s name, but Coburn told an Oklahoma paper last week that he planned to stay quiet about Trump and didn’t think a third party was possible.
Why doesn’t Coburn “think a third party was possible”? Probably the same reason we noted elsewhere that, for all his bravado, it was unlikely that a scorned Trump could have actually run third-party. It’s too expensive. And without the support and organization of an established party, too difficult.
What if there were an established party that was already organized and ready to run? There is: The Libertarian Party. Ron Paul ran as a Libertarian in 1988, before he tried to run as a Republican, in 2008 and 2012. But would any Republican switch parties? Some already have, according to Newser.
One of the staunchest longtime Republicans, known for her party strategizing and punditry, has switched teams, the New York Times reports. Mary Matalin turned in her Republican registration for a Libertarian one, she announced Thursday. . .
For her, the Libertarian Party “continues to represent those constitutional principles that I agree with.” Matalin. . .served as the campaign director for Bush No. 41 and as an assistant to Bush No. 43.
The Libertarian Party will be on the ballot in all 50 states. And they have candidates, too, according to the Blaze.
The Libertarian Party is America’s largest third party. There are already three frontrunners. Gary Johnson, John McAfee, and Austin Petersen who would all be excellent candidates.
Yes. . .the Libertarian Party revere the Constitution. Libertarians believe in all of the Constitution, including the First and Fourth Amendment, which Trump has openly said he would violate, such as loosening libel laws and bringing back mass surveillance. The party respects the separations of powers and checks and balances.
And libertarians are fiscally conservative. The biggest worry is the national debt and several candidates have plans to balance the budget and reverse the trend of overspending. . .
A major and energized third party is possible. But both the Libertarian Party and the conservatives fleeing need to build a coalition, otherwise you’ll be saying hi to President Trump or President Hillary Clinton for the next four years.
There is a need for the third party in order to break the stalemate of stupidity of the last decade.
In any other year, running on a third-party ticket would be somewhere between silly and political suicide. But. . .this is 2016. . .
