That point is based on that HUGE assumption that his voting base had grown without the drop out: " if he increased his vote percentage from 18.91% (the real result) to 34.79%," That is almost doubling it. If my grandma could have carried 20 people and had had 6 wheels, she would have been a bus.... Look, I like to play with numbers, that's why I say, it is almost impossible to beat the system for a 3rd party guy. It also boils down to money, in the next election the winner is going to spend 1 billion on the race....
Perot was on a real roll. Bush wasn't popular, Clinton was still a nobody at that point. If you have Obama and Romney, it is quite possible that a strong 3rd party candidate has a chance. Even Bloomberg thinks so, and he is a pretty sharp guy... http://www.politico.com/blogs/maggiehaberman/1110/Bloomberg_makes_a_thirdparty_case_.html
I actually rated this thread 5 stars when it was first posted. It had potential. But after seeing no realistic substance and the usual Optional/ZZZzzzz bull shit I changed it to a rating more representative of TrollZz's typical threads.
Bloomberg is a liberal, however. He is also a member of the Republican party. Trump is far more "populist" than Bloomberg, IRL.
Bloomberg switched party affiliation to Independent in 2007. He was a Democrat, switched to Republican, and was elected mayor in 2001.
I would welcome the US political landscape getting more diverse on the highest levels, but again, there are built in safeguards against that happening. After losing the election with a popular win in 2000 what did the Dems do? A big nothing. Did they try to change the system so it wouldn't happen again? No. Not even when they finally got on power. Why not? Well, because the system as it is favours them and the Reps. Sure a disaster like 2000 will happen from time to time, but it is much less of a disaster than an independent 3rd party gaining access to the political power. Because if a 3rd party can do, so can a 4th and a 5th. And if the landscape gets so diversified, they could eventually lose complete control. And that is the biggest threat to their position....
RCG, I'm just curious, why do you think you are a libertarian? I know I asked you before but I can't remember if you ever answered the question. LOL.
Scott Brown is a possibility, but I think he lacks the charisma necessary. I'm talking about a populist would can appeal the people, the people who are angry. The tea party appeals to the angry people, it is a populist movement, but it is not a center based movement. The appeal has to be to the large disenfranchised block of voters, someone who is going to cut the programs and tax the wealthy. Someone who is going to truly put America first, someone who doesn't care about a second term, someone who is truly patriotic and not partisan. Someone who can speak from a level of moral authority...not Biblical authority, nor intellectual authority, but common sense authority. This candidate will not waste time blaming DC or the left, nor the right. They will not blame anyone but the voters for their poor choices, for abdicating their responsibility as voters to elect people who are not representing what is actually best for America. The mess we are in today is America's mess. It is not the fault of the right, nor the left...not the fault of the politicians. They fault and blame rests squarely on people voting poorly. Not electing good leadership. The candidate needs to harken back to IKE's warning about the industrial military complex. The candidate needs to talk about shared sacrifice. This candidate needs to address our dire situation in the same manner that true leadership took on the need to enter WWII. The anger needs not be self righteous and blaming, but self responsibility with an attitude that right and left thinking have to be replace with American thinking about our future. We have the resources to be financially independent. We have the ingenuity to lead the world in energy independence. We have to stop being the policeman of the world. We have to realize that the greatest threat to America is not the demon outside of ourselves, but the the inner demon of selfishness, unwillingness to pull together, the pettiness of party politics, the need to unify our country on jobs for America, and not jobs for foreign countries. Not foreign aid to other countries when we need the money here at home. Strong borders and English as the primary language. The value of American citizenship, and the need to keep money made in America in America. The value of producing students who can be educated to make America work. The fact that each and every American is going to have to contribute to this process. That means taxing those who can afford to pay more, pure and simple. That means Americans cutting back on what they don't need. WWII was won not on the battlefields, but it was won because of the shared sacrifice by the people here at home. Everyone banded together to win that war. The current situation requires that we look to ourselves and purge those values that don't put America first. Those corporations who don't care about America, who would sell out America for profit and hiding that profit to avoid their fair share of taxes...should be shunned and boycotted. Take the nationalism of Nazi Germany...how powerful they became in a short period of time by pulling together. That was a positive for them and their self esteem. We can do the same thing, but we don't need to demonize the Jews, or Muslims, or left wingers, or right wingers, or gays, or anyone else. We just need to pull together, all of us to solve our problems, and those that don't want to be part of this American recovery...expel them. Take away their citizenship. That is a true populist movement. It is not based on a left wing or right wing ideology, but an American ideology. Put America first, by bringing Americans together with a common goal. Energy independence will be the spearhead for this to happen, as it will remove our troops from the middle east and bring them home to secure our borders. It will eventually lower the price of energy. It will break the grip of the monopolistic big oil companies. It will spur new technology and provide jobs to Americans. We need a leader who will crush the mythology of Reagan and all other leaders who did some good, but who also initiated policies that have become destructive to America. We need leadership who will punish white collar criminals on Wall Street, and put the fear of punishment back into the system for white collar criminals. I believe there are more Americans who will subscribe to such a populist movement than will want to continue with the two headed partisan politics who only want to fight each other, rather than take necessary steps that will require each and every American to make sacrifices for the common good.