A Shocking Shift of Realities!
Street Politics will provide much more about this and even outline ways to make it happen. In the meantime, I’ll ask the reader to share this link and get the conversation going. Seriously, this could change the American political landscape in ways we couldn't have imagined just last year.
As of a few months ago, I was still telling people there is no path for a third-party victory in presidential politics. The reason, I would say with professorial certainty, is that we need to build third-party viability starting the day after a general election, fill state and local offices with third-party people and then build a known entity into a realistic presidential candidate over the entire election cycle; maybe two cycles.
To achieve wide-spread success for such a party, this is still a true assessment. HOWEVER!...
There has never been a more perfect moment for a new insurgent to WIN a presidential election in more than 150 years. Right now, the stage is set for a sober and honest politician to emerge and pull the rug right out from under the smug and incompetent candidates and handlers in the race.
Remember Lincoln! He was a relatively unknown member of his own party and utterly unknown in the US when he took the nomination and won the general election. He did so as a member of a party that was far younger than the Libertarian Party we have today. He was likely the most lampooned man to run for the presidency next to Richard Nixon. His success in the nominating process was a matter of circumstance which very much resembles the elements at work in our present-day general election. More important, his opponents were far more worthy than the silly lot our insurgent would face today.
Source: Fox News.com
Source: Trumpwreck.com
And there is the critical word. It is the year of the insurgent candidate. Presently, according to the media there are only two choices. A man who ONLY knows how to finance real estate deals and blurt out populist concepts he barely understands himself, stands on one side. A corrupt felon with ZERO regard for national security faces him. These are the two main choices we are supposed to go along with. It’s like being asked, “Which has lovelier scent, the bleu cheese or the Limburger?”
When you look at the solid support both the leading candidates have, and I use the term “solid” advisedly, it comes to about 35-40% of the entire electorate. That leaves 60-65% of the population available for an independent or third-party candidate. Keep in mind that in exit polls, among those who voted for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the majority usually said they disapproved of them anyway.
Right now, we have at least two candidates available to fill the void. One is Cruz. He has a huge following and could easily gain the support of many of those who supported his primary opponents.
Even better, we have Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico. His resume is superior in every respect to that of every other candidate and potential candidate under consideration right now. He is running as a Libertarian and espouses ideas that would not only attract many conservatives but a lot of Democrats. Many Democrats and independents understand wide-eyed socialism and untrammeled corruption are not what is good for the country.
If this idea takes hold, the talking heads and political class will scold us. They will tell us (with a smirk) that little people cannot emerge and take on the sacred cows of DC or the media darlings. There is NO WAY a third-party candidate can win. They know this is no longer a true statement. They hope that enough of us will continue to be mindless lemmings and obey their implied command to fall back into line and stay there! I am betting that ship has sailed. American voters are starting to think for themselves again.
But here’s the best part. If we reject the reality TV clown and the criminal, we don’t have to have 50% of the vote to win an election, although we could achieve it.
This may be the year legalized marijuana advocates and small government conservatives BOTH thank their personal god for an electoral college; and maybe even an election forced into the House of Representatives.
source: ganjapreneur.com
At this moment, Gary Johnson is at 11% in the national polls, with almost no mention in the media. This number WILL go up. Cruz would hold sway with huge numbers of the 60% of Republicans who would rather vote for their dog than for Donald Trump. In Cruz’s case that is almost 30% of registered voters. For Johnson, his appeal to millennials (legalized marijuana, less military intervention, etc.) would resonate wildly. He would do more damage to BJ Bill's wife than to the Donald.
Not only could Cruz and Johnson make enough of a splash to justify a realistic run, if the election were forced into the House, the congressional electors would be blessed with two choices which wouldn’t actually cause them to vomit; two candidates we could take pride in as citizens.
And, for the record, Johnson is running on the Libertarian ticket.
Matt Jordan is a travel writer, political commentator and author of 16 20 24. Get your SIGNED copy here!
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