Given how polarizing the election will be, is there anyone who can band together 3rd parties, independents, none-of-the-abovers, etc. and pull 270EVs outright or At least deny Clinton a majority, beat Trump and throw it in the House?
No. There’s no one popular enough across enough demographics to beat Clinton, Trump and their respective party machines. Kanye, Clooney, Oprah…they’ve all got their draws but it’s not enough.
Coming at it from the other side, I don’t really think there’s enough Independents and Third-wayers who are all that unhappy about voting Hillary. She’s polarizing if you believe the twenty years of accumulated mudslinging, (ie - for the Republicans,) but for the rest of us, including the Republicans who are embarrassed to call themselves Republican these days, she’s a perfectly reasonable choice.
Maybe if Michelle Obama decided to run.
On a side note, “Crybaby Boobie” is probably my new favorite username.
I appreciate your support, but at this time I am not running, and am content with H-rod.
2016 is the year to do it if you’re a serious 3rd party candidate. Not just any 3rd party candidate, but the right ticket could have a fighting chance. I don’t know what that ticket looks like. I’m not talking about Jill Stein or Bob Barr. The 3rd party problem is always money, but someone like Mitt Romney could amass the financial backing to run an effective campaign.
Sanders vs. Trump there would have been an opening, but Clinton’s floor of support is too high to make it viable.
A third party could “send a message” though by doing better than Ross Perot and holding Clinton’s victory to under 40%. Bill got only 43% in 1992, you could probably get Hillary lower than that with the right third party candidate.
Understanding that it is winner-take-all, can Trump and any independent still deny Clinton 270EVs by splitting states (like Trump takes Pennsylvania and New Jersey and Jeb takes FLA and Texas) and making Clinton second-place in enough states?
An independent really has a hard row to hoe, because they have to start over in every state and get lots and lots of petitions signed in every state to get put on the ballot. Many states make it really hard for a non-party candidate.
Oh sure. Bloomberg could run against Hillary and hand the election to Trump. Ryan could run against Trump and hand the election to Hillary. They wouldn’t even have to run in all states. Winner take all voting systems are susceptible to spoilers.
But that’s a little different than the OP.
I can’t see Trump taking NJ. He’s bankrupted many parts of it.
Yes it is. That last post was about running a strategy to split states Not competing with each other) they could deny HRC 270EV outright throwing it in the House where I assume the second place EV (Trump or the indie) would be handed the election by the states.
If a mainstream conservative runs, I’ll vote for him, but I see Hillary winning regardless.
lol Kanye? Really?
Hip hop nation REPRESENT!
This. I could maybe see it if it’s Sanders verse Trump. There will be a lot of moderates scratching their heads over lesser of two weevils and such, but Hillary is going to draw the majority of moderates and independents I think in a her verse Trump scenario. And it’s almost certainly going to be Hillary verse Trump (or if not a truly broken Republican party who runs someone other than the person who got the majority of delegates, since I expect Trump to have enough by the time of the convention).
What’s Ralph Nader doing these days? This could be his moment!
His moment to be a spoiler again? I doubt he’s got enough support to do it regardless, though the Sanders folks might be angry enough to vote against Hillary and fuck themselves and the party and do what Democrats used to be famous for, snatching defeat from the slavering jaws of victory.
I know, I know, 'twas in jest. Nader’s got to be older than Sanders by now anyway.
We already have an independent. Trump is no more really connected to a party than Perot was, and less than Bloomberg. He’s taking over the party this cycle, but he’s still really an independent. That is why Ryan, a real Republican, running as a third party candidate sounds impractical but not absurd.
In a normal year it would be weird that a non-Democrat like Sanders is doing so well, but he at least votes with the Democrats and so seems relatively normal.