Whatever happened to the Constitution Party?

[AltWorlder]

They used to be a more powerful third party in the '90s, right? It seems like these days only the Libertarians, Greens, and whatever high-profile independent (McMullin in 2016, potentially Schultz in 2020) are getting any appreciable third party support.

[AltWorlder]

In retrospect, the Republican Party drifting further and further into the right (evangelicalism under Bush, movement conservatism with the Tea Party, and anti-immigration hardline borders security and economic nationalism under Trump) probably ate up the Constitution Party's distinguishing characteristics.

I see parts of the Democratic Party becoming more socialist or Green-focused, but I think the Libertarians still have no home among both parties. And where do socially conservative/fiscally liberal people go?

[AltWorlder]

I meant economically progressive, in the sense of how American liberals want to use gov't spending to create social welfare programs.

[AltWorlder]

"God and Country - 36 Hours with the Dying Embers of the Constitution Party" is an excellent article from MTV.com of all places, published back in the 2016 election. Really great coverage of the CP convention and showing how that third party has drifted into irrelevance.

[AltWorlder]

Trump's border hawk policies are objectively to the right of the soft on border policies of the Bush era. When Bush was president only Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter were obsessed about illegal immigration.

[AltWorlder]

Trump's border hawk policies are objectively to the right of the soft on border policies of the Bush era. When Bush was president only Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter were obsessed about illegal immigration.

Not true: Jeff Sessions, David Vitter, Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Wayne Allard for the Senate, as well as several people in the House: Sue Myrick, Virgil Goode, JD Hayworth, Dana Rohrabacher, Lamar Smith, Elton Gallegly, Brian Bilbray, Sam Graves, Steve King (he was just less vocal about it then), and many many others cared about it.

Sorry, I meant they were the only presidential candidates who cared about it. Though I suppose in 2012 Virgil Goode did run under the Constitution Party.

The failure of the 2007 debate coincided with McCain campaign's temporary collapse and the high point of Mitt Romney's bid (when he had leads in IA, NH, MI And NV), while Rudy dominated the irrelevant national polls. Fun times! If Mitt Romney had any significant appeal outside of rich and middle class "Conservative" suburbs, he would have run away with the nomination at that point. His narrow base though allowed him to be knocked out when the vote consolidated to Huckabee on one side and McCain on the other. 

It's interesting that for a moment after 2008 Sarah Palin, who's not much of a border warrior, was the movement conservative icon from that election. Was Mitt Romney for border enforcement already back then before 2012? If so it's interesting how that topic didn't become a big issue yet, I suppose the Iraq War overshadowed it.

[AltWorlder]

I'm wondering if Trump's victory, and his embrace of economic nationalism, border security, and national sovereignty/foreign isolationism, has sapped the paleocon movement by bringing it directly into the GOP. Hence the California AIP endorsing him in 2016 instead of bothering to run their own candidate. The Constitution Party will probably grey out on their own, but doubtless many erstwhile CP supporters- or disaffected Republican politicians who would've left the GOP to join them- will just vote for Trump and so marginalize the CP further.