# Justin Amash considers third-party run ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 14, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741 "2020-04-14T03:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/21 "2020-04-29T00:41:03Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I would worry more that he would pick up GOP voters who might go for Biden because they can see that Trump is a dumpster fire, but can view Amash as an alternative. There won’t be many of those, but every vote is vital. ^This. > [@Oakminster](#): > > If he runs, I’ll give him a look. I’m going third party anyway, so if he’s pro-gun and otherwise acceptable…maybe. If he runs, Amash will be giving Trump a very valuable gift. At the very least, Trump will owe him a Cabinet seat. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/22 "2020-04-29T01:15:56Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > ^This. > > If he runs, Amash will be giving Trump a very valuable gift. > > At the very least, Trump will owe him a Cabinet seat. I’m not sure I buy that. If a liberal congressperson from a swing state decided to leave the Democratic party and subsequently became the Green Party nominee, pretty much everybody would agree that it would be an unmitigated disaster for Biden, correct? Why is the opposite scenario assumed to be anything _but_ a disaster for Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/23 "2020-04-29T01:59:53Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I’m not sure I buy that. If a liberal congressperson from a swing state decided to leave the Democratic party and subsequently became the Green Party nominee, pretty much everybody would agree that it would be an unmitigated disaster for Biden, correct? Why is the opposite scenario assumed to be anything _but_ a disaster for Trump? We can’t know one way or the other. But in a scenario in which there are no credible third-party candidates, voters would have to choose Trump or the Democrat (presumably Biden). Logically, given a third option, some voters will defect from either Trump or from Biden. \*What makes this better for Trump than for Biden is \*_ **the likely swing states** _. As we understand the situation now, ‘X-thousand votes taken away from Biden’ will help Trump more than ‘X-thousand votes taken away from Trump’ will help Biden. In other words: because of the Electoral College and the swing states in play, Amash can conceivably hurt Biden more than he will hurt Trump. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/24 "2020-04-29T02:58:00Z")
I don’t buy it. People who would even consider voting for a libertarian candidate would likely never consider voting for a Democrat. I admire Amash in a way, but if he runs as a libertarian it will have negligible impact and be only detected by the most sensitive instruments. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/25 "2020-04-29T11:04:21Z")
He is running as a libertarian , he will take votes from Trump Their convention was cancelled, it was going to be in May and a new date has not been picked. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/26 "2020-04-29T12:22:28Z")
I think the votes he’ll get will mostly be never-Trumper Republicans that would have otherwise held their nose and voted for Biden. If he really wanted to help he’d endorse Biden instead of this stunt. ---
**Author:** ![Monocracy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monocracy/32/4493_2.png) [@Monocracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monocracy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/27 "2020-04-29T13:32:17Z")
Nader, and all Green Party candidates, run to left of the Democrats. They are the crazy-town alternatives to the sensible nominees. Very few conservatives and moderates vote for them. Amash, while not exactly running to the left or right of Trump, is the sensible alternative to the crazy-town nominee. He could pick up independents, moderates, and never-Trumpers who possibly would vote for Biden. He could also siphon some votes from Trump as well, but who knows which candidate would be affected more? I’d rather a strict Trump v Biden contest. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/28 "2020-04-29T13:48:53Z")
Libertarians never get more than 5% , he might do slightly better. The never Trump Republicans won’t all vote for him , only a small percent will. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/29 "2020-04-29T15:53:04Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t buy it. People who would even consider voting for a libertarian candidate would likely never consider voting for a Democrat. You keep saying this, and I keep being the example that proves you wrong. I’ve voted for several Democrats recently, and will likely vote for more in the future. What I won’t do is vote for any anti-gun candidate. This year, that happens to exclude every major Dem candidate for POTUS. Third party is is, then. Probably Libertarian, but I may write myself in instead. ---
**Author:** ![pjacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@pjacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjacks)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/30 "2020-04-29T15:53:41Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t buy it. People who would even consider voting for a libertarian candidate would likely never consider voting for a Democrat. I admire Amash in a way, but if he runs as a libertarian it will have negligible impact and be only detected by the most sensitive instruments. I came to the Democratic party as a teenager during the Iraq War disaster and while the federal government was literally torturing people. Those were the issues that motivated me and my activism at the time, and I vote mostly for Democrats, but also for some sane libertarians if given the opportunity. We exist. I’ll vote for Amash most likely. Out of hundreds of elected republicans, he is the only one who had enough integrity to leave the rotting corpse that the party has become. That’s something. That R by republicans name should be a T for Trump, because all these ghouls are cult members and no longer Republicans. But my vote doesn’t matter, like most people’s. I live in slightly blue CO, but it’s still not a swing state. If democrats cared half as much about the vast majority of the US population who have been disenfranchised by the electoral college as much as they cared about spoiler effects from 3rd party candidates, maybe they would start winning elections again. And they should really worry about MI now, where Amash remains personally popular. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/31 "2020-04-29T16:01:56Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You keep saying this, and I keep being the example that proves you wrong. I’ve voted for several Democrats recently, and will likely vote for more in the future. What I won’t do is vote for any anti-gun candidate. This year, that happens to exclude every major Dem candidate for POTUS. Third party is is, then. Probably Libertarian, but I may write myself in instead. Obama was said to be anti-gun and nothing changed during his 8 years in office even after mass shootings. The gun and ammo makers loved Obama though because he made their sales go way up. ---
**Author:** ![pjacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@pjacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjacks)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/32 "2020-04-29T16:02:47Z")
I dunno where this idea comes from that only conservative republicans sometimes vote for libertarians. You are talking about people that support UBI, abortion legalization, sex work decriminalization, ending the drug war, and stopping our endless warmongering. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/33 "2020-04-29T16:06:18Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Obama was said to be anti-gun and nothing changed during his 8 years in office even after mass shootings. The gun and ammo makers loved Obama though because he made their sales go way up. And I didn’t vote for him, either. I do respect the guy, and he wasn’t a horrible president. Better than Bush the Younger. Practically a god compared to Trump. ---
**Author:** ![pjacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@pjacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjacks)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/34 "2020-04-29T16:09:52Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Obama was said to be anti-gun and nothing changed during his 8 years in office even after mass shootings. The gun and ammo makers loved Obama though because he made their sales go way up. It’s a long game. If a handgun ban law ever made it before the US Supreme Court, the Obama apointees would vote a certain way. Gun control is a losing issue, and the sooner Dems move away from it, the better. There is a fascist, armed element of the GOP that is only going to get more unhinged and violent as time goes on, and disarming blue states, urban centers, people of color, women, and gays is a horrible idea right now. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/35 "2020-04-29T16:10:08Z")
Presidents 1-44 are gods compared to Trump . Even Millard Filmore. 🙂 Even the guy who was in office 1 month, William Harrison. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/36 "2020-04-29T16:24:48Z")
> [@pjacks](#): > > I came to the Democratic party as a teenager during the Iraq War disaster and while the federal government was literally torturing people. Those were the issues that motivated me and my activism at the time, and I vote mostly for Democrats, but also for some sane libertarians if given the opportunity. We exist. > > I’ll vote for Amash most likely. Out of hundreds of elected republicans, he is the only one who had enough integrity to leave the rotting corpse that the party has become. That’s something. That R by republicans name should be a T for Trump, because all these ghouls are cult members and no longer Republicans. > > But my vote doesn’t matter, like most people’s. I live in slightly blue CO, but it’s still not a swing state. If democrats cared half as much about the vast majority of the US population who have been disenfranchised by the electoral college as much as they cared about spoiler effects from 3rd party candidates, maybe they would start winning elections again. > > And they should really worry about MI now, where Amash remains personally popular. And exactly what should the Democrats do about the electoral college? Get right on that constitutional amendment? ---
**Author:** ![pjacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@pjacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjacks)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/37 "2020-04-29T16:34:20Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > And exactly what should the Democrats do about the electoral college? Get right on that constitutional amendment? I dunno, what can they do about 3rd party spoilers besides whine? If the electoral college favored Democrats instead of Republicans, we wouldn’t have an electoral college anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/38 "2020-04-29T16:37:22Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > There are a lot of people in west Michigan (Grand Rapids area on westward) who would be happy to have a normal, traditional conservative to vote for. That area, which is where he’s from, is full of religious conservatives who are actually horrified by Trump. Trump’s personal life, his mistreatment of cultural and political norms, his mistreatment of immigrants and refugees, his crude ways. If Amash could pull enough votes from Trump in Kent and Ottawa Counties, that would be the finishing move on Donald in this state, and I think he could. > > I don’t know if Amash could do much in any other state, but he could definitely do some damage against Trump in the portion of Michigan that otherwise leans red. For other states, it would depend on how much the never-Trump conservatives would be willing to fund his campaign, and I’m not convinced the money would be there for him. > > So my hot take: This would help Biden win Michigan, but not much else. I haven’t looked into it too closely, but I agree and I think your theory would translate to other places. I know Republicans that hate Trump, quite a few of them. I’m not claiming this is typical of the general population, I know it’s not - but there are Republicans that hate him. Especially women. And some of them are saying they’d vote for Biden — but I’m concerned that at the last minute they’ll start thinking about conservative judges and tax policy and they’ll hold their noses and vote Trump. I think Amash could peel off their votes. And it would be a bridge too far for ANY Republican to actually endorse a Democratic candidate. I’ve seen anti-Trump ads run by Never Trump PAC and I was wondering what their endgame is. I see two advantages to an Amash candidacy. One is that it will force the Trump campaign to wage a war on a second front. The other is that Amash and the PAC behind him will probably run a lot of anti-Trump ads that are desperately needed now. I do not agree with the prevailing theory that Trump is destroying himself and Biden doesn’t need to do anything. I think it’s political suicide and I think a hard 50 state Bloomberg level multi-billion dollar anti-Trump ad blitz is the only chance the Democrats have. Since they are unwilling or unable to do it, maybe the Amash campaign will pick up the slack. ---
**Author:** ![pjacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e19adc/32.png) [@pjacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjacks)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/39 "2020-04-29T16:40:32Z")
A good start would’ve been, instead of a million people donning pussy hats and protesting Trump being a sexual harasser after his inauguration, they protested the electoral college. Instead of democratic leadership blaming racist deplorables, Russia or 3rd parties for their losses, they blamed the electoral college at every opportunity. And if ever they controlled enough state legislatures to hold a constitutional convention, they have enough balls to eliminate the electoral college. But we all know they won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741/40 "2020-04-29T21:10:29Z")
> [@pjacks](#): > > It’s a long game. If a handgun ban law ever made it before the US Supreme Court, the Obama apointees would vote a certain way. > > Gun control is a losing issue, and the sooner Dems move away from it, the better. There is a fascist, armed element of the GOP that is only going to get more unhinged and violent as time goes on, and disarming blue states, urban centers, people of color, women, and gays is a horrible idea right now. Joe Biden has been an enemy of the NRA for a quarter of a century. The 1994-2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban was part of his 94’ Crime Bill. Dems can’t run away from that and certainly not in fear of a far right backlash. Poll after poll shows the majority of Americans are on the side of stricter gun laws. I give Barack Obama a pass as the tide was turning politically in his second term when Congress was GOP-controlled. However if Joe Biden as president doesn’t sign gun control measures into law I will consider it a failure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justin-amash-considers-third-party-run/851741.md?page=3)