The idea that Joe Walsh—a lifelong Republican and Obama-smearing Tea Partier—will draw otherwise Democratic-leaning voters is completely absurd. If he runs 3rd party, the votes he’ll get are from Republicans and nominal independents who dislike Trump but also hate Democrats.
The 3rd party candidates Dems have to fear are those on the left, the American “Green” Party most notably among them.
People need to remember that the Dem Presidential candidate has won the popular vote in four out of the last five elections, and it’s only because of state-by-state vote distribution, pivotal third party candidacies, and more recently highly targeted social media ratfucking courtesy of RU and the GOP in three midwestern states that the GOP won in 2000 and 2016.
The challenge for Dems in 2020 is the same as in any election: maximize their own vote from their gettables, and minimize their opponent’s turnout of his gettables. Anything that helps either task is to our advantage.
Anybody actively considering voting for Joe Walsh instead of the Dem nominee is not a Democratic gettable.
The Republican obsession with “limited government” has always been horseshit anyhow. They like an active government as much as liberals do—they just want it helping a very narrow, very white, very religious, and very wealthy slice of the country.
Now it makes sense as to why Trump hasn’t gone ballistic Tweet on this guy.
It’s a con.
Trump needs 3rd party candidate to split vote like Nader did for Bush v. Gore.
Walsh is happy to oblige to play the Conservative who can save the Conservative name. In reality, he’s looking to get paid and rewarded once his primary push fails.
Typical Conservative GOP move. F** the country, I gotta get mine.
Yeah, but I remember Florida 2000, where “not much of a threat to anybody” Pat Buchanan siphoned off 3,400 democratic votes in Palm Beach county due to a brain-damaged ballot design and was one of the factors that threw the election to bush the lesser.
Plenty of political science folks have gotten into this after 92. They say that the Perot voters were for some kind of change from the Reagan Bush era and most would have gravitated towards Clinton if it was a two party race after he was a bit batty with his withdrawal then getting back in.
Buchanan was on the Reform Party ticket, which was grandfathered onto state ballots thanks to Ross Perot’s 1996 campaign. Joe Walsh isn’t getting on anyone’s ballots.
Ya mine was the retiring Sean Duffy, who stood out as a zero in a roomful of empty suits on policy. But remarkably, his detail man in town had a full page itemized list of everything The Congressman had done for any given crowd of 10 people or more. Detail man never had a good answer what was wrong with that picture.
I doubt this would be about getting elected so much as about getting attention. I think Walsh is just threatening to be a spoiler from the right to try to shake down Trump for something. What, I don’t know, but it wouldn’t be hard for a right wing candidate to hurt Trump with a third party bid. The never trumpers who won’t want to vote for the Democrat would then have an option that could really hurt Trump.
Walsh is also a total fraud - he looks at the “system” as a game to be played or a jungle gym to be climbed … he has no inner philosophical integrity … he is like if sasha baron cohen or Colbert locked themselves inside their spoof character and ran for office as a mean demented right wing loon … Walsh is a damn self-pleasuring chameleon - and he does not care who he hurts in the pursuit of self gratification.
