GOP donors start research of ballot access laws for independent bid

[100% pro-life no matter what]

I don't know if this would be a smart strategy or not, but the hypothetical ticket would have my vote for sure (and I'm not even of the establishment, because I care about abortion and other social issues too much for them).

[ag]

There's a decent argument for the create a 1912 situation in 2016 so you can win with, say, Ryan in 2020 approach, but it would have been a lot more palatable to elite Republicans a month ago when Justice Scalia was still with us than it is now.  In a 3 way race where Hillary wins 30-40 states, it's basically assured that Democrats would also pick up the senate.

No, the people planning this presumably think that they'll lose the Senate if it's a 1-on-1 Clinton vs. Trump, but that by also having a conservative 3rd party candidate on the ballot as an option, you'll boost right-wing turnout and save the Senate.

I don't buy it, because it would only create a massive incentive for Trump to truly run center-left on economics to peel off Clinton support if he wants to have any chance.  He's the type who would go publicly endorse some of the more blue collar/anti-establishment Dem senate candidates like Sestak, Strickland, and Feingold out of pure spite.  Once he's already clinched the nomination, he can truly make life hell for them if they do this.

This is, indeed, the main problem with the conservative candidate in the race: this could push Trump further left. Equilibrium consequences might be quite unexpected. Trump may have difficulty getting majority of the vote, but 35% of the vote is all you might need in a three-way race - and that Trump can get easily. If Trump winds up being elected as a Republican president, not only it would be a disaster for the US and the world (which, of course it would), but under these conditions it may allow him to permanently change the Republican party in his image.

There is still time to stop Trump before he gets notmination. However, the only way to certainly stop him afterwards is by supporting the Democratic nominee. Anything else might, actually, help him get elected.

I have changed my colors advisedly. This is no time to be independent.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

You guys are forgetting about the 12th amendment. All that is required to stop Trump AND Hillary is for no candidate to get above 270 Electoral Collage votes, and then it will be thrown to the House. True, it would be very skethcy and stupid in the long run, but hey the GOP thruves on being sketchy and stupid in the long run.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

You guys are forgetting about the 12th amendment. All that is required to stop Trump AND Hillary is for no candidate to get above 270 Electoral Collage votes, and then it will be thrown to the House. True, it would be very skethcy and stupid in the long run, but hey the GOP thruves on being sketchy and stupid in the long run.

That's assuming this candidate can win any states.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

You guys are forgetting about the 12th amendment. All that is required to stop Trump AND Hillary is for no candidate to get above 270 Electoral Collage votes, and then it will be thrown to the House. True, it would be very skethcy and stupid in the long run, but hey the GOP thruves on being sketchy and stupid in the long run.

That's assuming this candidate can win any states.

Mormons.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

The GOP is so comfortable losing that they're actively trying NOT to win.

[Indy Texas]

I don't know if this will actually happen, although there are a lot of rumblings out there. I expect a lot of them will end up backing Hillary or Bloomberg should either make it to the general.

No self-respecting Republican would support Hillary under any circumstance.

Actually, those of us who don't want anything to do with this "new Republican coalition" certainly should go elsewhere. Voting for it only makes us part of the problem.

Yes, the situation is getting increasingly intolerable. But this sort of thing happens, when standards of living for the bulk of the population, stagnate or decline, with no immediate remedy in sight, because it's systemic, and there really is no remedy, other than hoping we can better educate the next generation. So strange stuff, unrealistic promises, demagoguery, intolerance, demonizing the other and the blame game, conspiracy theories, authoritarianism, self defeating protectionism (particularly for the longer term as to that) and other assorted and sundry unpleasantness, proliferates. It will probably get worse, before it gets better. Having said all of that, it would be nice to find a politician who tells it like it is, what the hard choices really are, and that it is going to be a long slog, from which there is no escape. The era of American exceptionalism is over. The rise of standards of living in the US as a force of nature, is over. From now on, it's blood, sweat and toil.

Here's the problem, Torie. Trump's people already know that. So do Sanders' people - though his are probably a little more optimistic. The point is that Republicans can't get their head around the fact that there is no reason for 99% of the voters in this country to support policies that allow the other 1% to get richer and leave them no better off. They've decided that unless everyone can get ahead in this world, nobody is going to get ahead. Protectionism and tariffs won't do them much good. Some of them will get jobs making things that will be more expensive than they were being made abroad. But the point is that the rich are going to have to deal with diminished expectations too.

There is nowhere else for the One Percent to take their money. Asia's slowing down and the laws and institutions are too arbitrary and opaque. The Middle East is going to get even worse when they start running out of water. That basically leaves Europe, which is further down the same road we've started down. So they're just going to have to stay here. You're just going to have to stay here. Your trust fund will probably keep up with inflation, but you'll have to spend more money on things like private security to keep the looters at bay and on things like bottled water delivered to your door as infrastructure becomes nonfunctional. Every so often, some hedge fund magnate will have to cut off a pound of flesh, lest Mr. Trump throw him in jail for some minor slight against him.

And all of this could have been avoided, Torie, if your segment of the Republican Party had only listened and only cared. If only you'd been content to get 10% annual return on your investments instead of 15% for sake of preserving a middle class. If only you'd been content to pay a little more tax so that one in five Americans didn't have to go without healthcare. If only you'd been willing to invest in America's cities instead of retreating to your Hudson Valley hamlet.

[IceSpear]

I wouldn't be so quick to say this is would automatically mean a Clinton landslide. GOP donors couldn't buy Jeb the nomination. Why should we believe they can buy more than 3% of the general electorate?

3% will be more than enough to ensure a Hillary win, most likely.

[MK]

Great way to lose.

The idea is to lose to save the party.

This is like the worst way to "save" the party.

More like go the way of the wiggers (Whig Party )