The Last Word: Is America ready for a third party? (take our poll)

Jim Hoeft / June 4, 2016 @jrhoeft

It hasn’t taken Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump long to continue with his now notorious trash-talking on the campaign trail. This week, he has declared that the judge responsible for hearing the Trump University case has a conflict of interest because of the judge – an American, obviously – is of Mexican ancestry.

D.J. McGuire sums it up succinctly: “when Trump goes off on someone being “Mexican”, he’s not throwing up a conspiracy theory about birthplaces. He’s claiming that whole swaths of Americans with a similar ethnic background should be disqualified from the public square.”

The problem for most Americans, particularly conservatives who failed to coalesce around a candidate in the early stages of the presidential nomination contest is that the alternative to Trump is not better – if not far worse, when it comes to policy. This is true for either socialist-lite Hillary Clinton or an avowed socialist, Bernie Sanders.

The bottom-line with Clinton and Trump is it’s the most disfavored pairing running for president from the two major parties. Ever.

FiveThirtyEight calls the two “historically disliked.”

So what to do? Is this the year of a third party?

Possibly. It’s not as if a majority of Americans aren’t interested in the idea.

Gallup has been polling on this topic since 2004 and desire for a third party polled at its high-water mark last September:

“WASHINGTON, D.C. — A majority of Americans, 60%, say a third major political party is needed because the Republican and Democratic parties “do such a poor job” of representing the American people. This matches the high set in 2013. Since 2007, a majority of Americans have generally called for a third party, with the exception of the last two presidential election years (emph. added).”

In other words, according to this data, in presidential years, Americans generally have been content for everyone to go to their corners and allow the major parties to duke it out. And that is just what Clinton and Trump – and the parties – are hoping for. But, again, the last three cycles of polling have been hovering at 60 percent and, well, Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are not exactly lighting the world on fire (except maybe for San Jose or Benghazi or Syria…)

All this said, the Libertarian Party did take a major step last weekend in nominating two electorally plausible candidates in Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson and Vice Presidential Nominee Bill Weld. If Johnson and Weld run a rational campaign and don’t make social libertarianism, like the legalization of marijuana, a centerpiece issue, they might have a shot.

Especially if Mr. Trump continues to make comments that are outright racist.

About that Libertarian Convention, our own Rick Sincere pens a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch and caught up with the candidates for two quick podcast interviews.

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