Is a non-populist major third party possible?

[history nerd]

It's hard to call John Anderson a populist.

6.6% is pretty dismal for such a high ranking and intelligent man.

Unfortunately I think that might be as good as it gets... Appeals to reason and moderation just don't sell like populism does. People like King, Bloomberg, Chafee, and Walker can win outside the duopoly locally due to odd local coalitions but aren't able to create excitement like you need to run for POTUS.