Tom Coburn and Rick Perry discussed as potential third party Trump opponents

[IceSpear]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-party.html?_r=0

Great news for Hillary Clinton!

But really though, Rick Perry? lol

[Lyin' Steve]

Please please please please please please please run Rick Perry as a third party.
This election just isn't entertaining enough.

[Ebsy]

We could only be so lucky as to get another shot at Rick Perry.

[ElectionsGuy]

I would be supportive of a Tom Coburn run.

[Former Senator Haslam2020]

PERRY/COBURN THE ESTABLISHMENTS LAST HOPE OMFL OMFG IM JUST DYING XDDDD

[Mehmentum]

We could only be so lucky as to get another shot at Rick Perry.

[indietraveler]

Please please please please please please please run Rick Perry as a third party.
This election just isn't entertaining enough.

Yes, at the rate this is going, Trump might as well pick Palin as his VP.

[ag]

Actually, a Texan 3rd party conservative, especially if well financed, could be real good. That would put Texas in play in November!

[Coolface Sock #42069]

Can't we find more credible candidates than Rick Perry?

[Mr. Morden]

So Coburn's the only Republican who has been explicitly asked about it and didn't rule it out?  Yes, they mention Perry, but that was other people talking up Perry.  Perry himself hasn't said anything about it AFAIK.

[Volrath50]

Does Rick Perry really want to humiliate himself a third time?

[ag]

Can't we find more credible candidates than Rick Perry?

Rick Perry getting 15%-20% in Texas (with enough funding, this might not be impossible), would put the state in play. That is all we really need! Clinton winning Texas with 41% of the vote would be precious!

Remember: this has to be a politician without future prospects. Nobody, who has life in them, will run just to screw somebody else.

[Ronnie]

If they actually succeed in drafting a spoiler candidate, then Trump should and possibly would spend the general election season golfing at Mar-a-lago, and relaxing at Trump Tower.  Campaigning would be a waste of time.

[Lief 🗽]

Great news! Hopefully Clinton heavily invests in Texas if Rick Perry does run.

[Comrade Funk]

Reverse 1968. Hillary is Nixon, TRUMP is Wallace, and whoever runs as a "true conservative lol" is Humphrey (overseeing the fracturing of the party/coalition). Hillary will destroy Ted Cruz in 2020 only for her to be impeached two years later leading to an outsider Republican winning in 2024, and then President George Clooney building a new era of Liberal prosperity and dominance in American politics.

[Mr. Morden]

Can't we find more credible candidates than Rick Perry?

Rick Perry getting 15%-20% in Texas (with enough funding, this might not be impossible), would put the state in play. That is all we really need! Clinton winning Texas with 41% of the vote would be precious!

But isn't Texas one of the harder states on which to get on the ballot, because of the deadline coming up soon?  I don't expect that such a candidate will be able to get on the ballot everywhere.  Though in states where he's not on the ballot, I guess there would be a write-in effort.

[ag]

If they actually succeed in drafting a spoiler candidate, then Trump should and possibly would spend the general election season golfing at Mar-a-lago, and relaxing at Trump Tower.  Campaigning would be a waste of time.

It has to be a certain kind of a spoiler. Only strong in certain safe Republican states - but with obvious strength there. Very right-wing - so that there is no chance anybody would vote for him, who might have voted for Clinton. Credible enough to be well financed, at least as a spoiler. A major Texan politician sounds great!

[Lief 🗽]

Can't we find more credible candidates than Rick Perry?

Rick Perry getting 15%-20% in Texas (with enough funding, this might not be impossible), would put the state in play. That is all we really need! Clinton winning Texas with 41% of the vote would be precious!

But isn't Texas one of the harder states on which to get on the ballot, because of the deadline coming up soon?  I don't expect that such a candidate will be able to get on the ballot everywhere.  Though in states where he's not on the ballot, I guess there would be a write-in effort.

I think the plan is to just hijack the Libertarian Party at this point.

[This account no longer in use.]

This is ridiculous. First of all, Perry? Coburn? Really? The establishment Republicans' last hope at a third party anti-Trump was Bloomberg.

[IceSpear]

Can't we find more credible candidates than Rick Perry?

Rick Perry getting 15%-20% in Texas (with enough funding, this might not be impossible), would put the state in play. That is all we really need! Clinton winning Texas with 41% of the vote would be precious!

But isn't Texas one of the harder states on which to get on the ballot, because of the deadline coming up soon?  I don't expect that such a candidate will be able to get on the ballot everywhere.  Though in states where he's not on the ballot, I guess there would be a write-in effort.

I think the plan is to just hijack the Libertarian Party at this point.

lol, imagine the libertarian tears if that happened.

[ag]

This is ridiculous. First of all, Perry? Coburn? Really? The establishment Republicans' last hope at a third party anti-Trump was Bloomberg.

Bloomberg is not, really, a Republican, definitely not a conservative, and he would have gotten more votes from Clinton, than from Trump. The objective of the third-party challenge at that point is not to win, but to give conservatives a chance to vote for somebody, without that somebody being Trump or Clinton. But electing Trump by running a centrist is not the ticket: they want to see Trump humiliated.

[Mr. Morden]

Again, big difference in terms of what we have from Coburn and Perry.  Coburn says he doesn't really want to run, but wouldn't rule it out.  Perry hasn't publicly addressed the topic at all, AFAIK (though there's an asterisk to that--see below).  But Perry has endorsed Cruz.  So he wouldn't start making any moves towards this while Cruz is still running anyway.

The closest Perry has come to indicating that he still might be interested in running was this comment from a few weeks ago:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/25/politics/rick-perry-brokered-convention/

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So someone brought up the third party option to Perry and he changed the subject to a brokered convention.  Make of that what you will.

[Dr. Arch]

This would be the biggest "oops" yet.

[Free Bird]

Aren't we afraid of Coburn dying in office?

[ag]

Aren't we afraid of Coburn dying in office?

Nobody is talking aobut an "office" in this thread.