This New York Times story talks about leading Republican Party figures who say they would back a “third party” for President if Donald Trump becomes the nominee. The story mentions the Libertarian Party and the Constitution Party. Generally, the New York Times never mentions the Libertarian Party. Even when Gary Johnson declared for the Libertarian nomination on January 6, 2016, an announcement that received coverage in virtually all daily newspapers in the U.S., the New York Times did not mention the Johnson announcement, at least not in the paper edition.
They make Trump sign a waiver saying he wouldn’t run as a third party candidate. But when Trump seems likely to win the Republican Primary, quite a few Republicans are thinking of voting third party. The irony is immense.
This election could well end up being like the 1912 Presidential election. We’d have Trump, Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson, and Jill Stein, with Gary and Jill both getting 5 or more percent of the vote from the decently large number of voters not wanting to vote for Hillary or Trump. And that would be amazing if it happened.
Simply amazing. Every four years they tell the people that they have to get in line behind the nominated candidate even if they don’t like him in the interest of party unity. And when the people finally speak and nominate somebody they don’t like, they threaten to bolt.
In addition, now they want to try and cozy up to the Constitution and Libertarian Parties even though for years they have tried to minimize them by doing such things as keeping them out of the Presidential Debates. I suppose in four years time, they’ll be back to trying to minimize them again.
I wouldn’t expect it to take them four years to go back to minimizing the alternative parties. . . .