In a presidential race where the likely nominees of both major political parties have major disapproval ratings, is there room for a third choice?
New polling says maybe.
An NBC-Wall Street Journal survey this week shows 47 percent of registered voters would consider a third party candidate if the Republican and Democratic choices were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
This weekend, the Libertarian Party will hold its convention to nominate a candidate. Front-runner Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, is polling at 10 percent in some recent surveys that include his name with Trump and Clinton.
While Americans have not elected a third party president, there have been some strong attempts: George Wallace won almost 14 percent in 1968. Ross Perot got 19 percent in 1992 and eight percent in 1996. Ralph Nader in 2000 got more than two percent of the vote, but that was enough to keep Al Gore from winning Florida, giving George W. Bush the presidency.
With the election still about six months away, talk of a viable third party candidate is still remarkably strong. But is there action behind the talk?
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A Third Choice?
Hillary Clinton: Eyeing Trump While Sanders Tries to Close
Voters in Kentucky and Oregon get their chance Tuesday to choose a candidate to run for president of the United States. Donald Trump is the last Republican standing in what once was a 17-candidate field. And the Democrats still have Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders going at one another.
The delegate math is tilted heavily against Sanders. Democrats allocate pledged delegates proportionally to the popular primary vote. That means Sanders has to overwhelmingly win most, if not all the remaining 11 contests to overcome Clinton’s current 283 pledged delegate lead.
Then, there are the “superdelegates” — 712 elected officials and Democratic party leaders who are not bound to any candidate. Right now, Clinton has support from an overwhelming number of those superdelegates.
The Clinton conundrum: positioning herself to take on Trump without burning bridges to Sanders supporters.
The Knives Are Out
In the hours after his five-state primary sweep, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump declared the race to the party nomination was “over,” called himself “the presumptive nominee,” and baited Democrat Hillary Clinton for using “the woman card.” Clinton returned the favor, saying if playing that card meant fighting for equal pay, paid family leave and access to healthcare then “deal me in!” And with that, it seemed the tone of the upcoming presidential election was set.
Trump & Hillary Solidify Frontrunner Status
As predicted, New York voters granted Trump, its “native son,” and Hillary, the state’s adoptee, electoral victories by wide margin. The takeaway? Trump confirmed that he is indeed a “winner.” And Hillary, who has the loyalty of New York Democrats, sent a strong message to her iconoclastic contender, Senator Bernie Sanders. The presidential ticket seems set for both parties, even if Trump is likely to arrive at the GOP convention without the necessary majority of delegates. The #StopTrump movement isn’t going away, but “The Donald’s” renewed momentum may mean establishment Republicans will not be able to #StopTrump no matter what.
Hillary Eyes November, With the ‘Bern’ Firmly in Her Rearview Mirror
First Lady. Senator from New York. Secretary of State. Hillary Clinton has been part of the American political landscape for 25 years. Even longer, if one includes her stint as First Lady in Arkansas before she and her husband, then President-elect Bill Clinton, arrived in Washington in 1992. After a seven-state win on Super Tuesday, she is well on her way to securing her place as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee. Senator Bernie Sanders didn’t make it easy. “The Bern” was real, and his supporters remain fiercely loyal. They forced her to highlight her progressive stance on domestic issues. Many have said Clinton has been her own worst enemy over the years, creating doubt or suspicion unnecessarily, and collecting a lot of baggage along the way. But the breadth of her career in politics cannot be denied – from bake sales and community fundraisers across America to being on the Watergate impeachment inquiry staff, tackling healthcare in the 1990s and the controversies leftover from her time as Secretary of State — Benghazi and a private email server. History books already will have a chapter written about Hillary Clinton, even if she doesn’t make it back to the White House.
Not-so-Super Tuesday
The Party of Lincoln has reaped what it sowed: All these years of anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-establishment and often hateful, venomous rhetoric and dog whistling attacks on President Barack Obama have produced that strategy’s uber-candidate, someone who embraces all of it without the niceties — or even intellectual consistencies.
Clinton’s Iowa Performance Reveals New Fault Lines for Democrats
Both candidates have claimed, in different ways, to be the proper heir to Obama’s legacy. They’ve argued about how they’ll build on his accomplishments while altering the status quo…. The status quo doesn’t mean the same thing to all Democrats. Those who haven’t prospered during the Obama years may be ready for a bigger change.
Democratic Party Drama
Benghazi. A private email server. Whitewater. All scandals with the name Clinton attached. Ever since the Clinton’s came to Washington more than 20 years ago, controversy has plagued the power couple, who have built a very loyal following right along side a long list of enemies. Now as the former First Lady, senator from New York, and former Secretary of State makes her case to be President of the United States, she faces an unexpectedly tough battle from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has attracted support from Americans who are tired of business as usual in Washington. It has widely been assumed that the Democratic Party nomination was Hillary’s to lose. But with polls showing more and more voters supporting non-mainstream candidates like Sanders (and billionaire Donald Trump on the Republican side), there are concerns that, despite her gravitas, Hillary’s credibility gap has weakened her hold on Democrats.
Why a Pro-Life Third Party Would Utterly Transform American Politics
Do you know of a group that is a lot more pro-life than the mainstream and doesn’t vote with the officially pro-life party? That’s right: African-Americans. Uniting white pro-lifers and black pro-lifers (and Latino pro-lifers as well) would profoundly reshuffle American politics in ways that frankly cannot be anticipated…