The Ross Perot effect

We might see a repeat of something that's happened before--a third party candidate siphoning off votes from one candidate and thus ensuring the victory of the other. There could be challenges to Trump from other candidates---it happened in 2016 on a small scale, in Utah, where the Republicans floated a Mormon candidate as an alternative for those who couldn't stomach voting for Trump but were dyed-in-the-wool Republicans nonetheless (Utah is a red, red, red state).

A less likely scenario is Bernie starting a movement that draws attention--and maybe votes--away from the mainstream Democratic candidate. I think that won't happen for two reasons--one, Bernie's health and age are issues, and two, in 2016, he sucked much of the energy away from the Clinton campaign, and many Bernie-heads stayed home rather than voting for Hillary. That may have helped Trump win, and no one, Bernie included, wants that to happen again.

Trump has made sure that he can't be challenged in the primaries, by the simple expedient of stopping primaries from being held at all in many states. (You know how the Republicans loathe democracy.) However, any challenger might start a third party or run as the candidate for an existing party, such as Libertarian. That candidate would have no chance to actually win, but if such a candidate had been in the running nationwide in 2016 and siphoned off, say, 1/4 of 1% of the Republican vote, Trump would not have won.

The premise I'm making is that any third party candidate would most likely steal votes from Trump, not from the Democratic nominee. People vote for third party candidates as a form of protest--and a LOT of Republicans are feeling shame at the choice they made in 2016 and/or anger that Trump didn't give them the lollipops that he promised. They may be torn between voting for the Orange Orangutan again (cringe-inducing), voting for the Democratic candidate (violating orthodoxy), or staying home altogether (maybe the best choice for them). If Joe Shlabotnik appeared on the ballot representing the Green Grass Party or something, that might be yet another choice for disaffected Republicans.

I don't see many Democrats defecting in such a scenario, though. The party's bottom line has been "Defeat Trump" and it may not matter who the actual candidate is. Though there is the enticing possibility that given recent developments, what they'll actually be trying to do is "Defeat Pence," which would be an absolute walk in the park.

More drivel and make believe nonsense from the mind of a demented hater. If you want to try and sell your moronic stupidity to clear thinking, rational American citizens, you are wasting your breath. Your crazed mouthings are best suited to the liberal snowflake mental midgets that populate the DemocRacic party. Your stupidity obviously has no boundaries. 

Once again, Stalker shows us that his sole ability is insulting other people.

I'm hoping that Weld may run as an independent, or even less likely, Romney, as both would be likely to siphon some votes from trump.  That said, it's beyond me that anyone is considering voting for trump at this point.  The guy quite literally killed our allies in Syria by pulling out U.S. peacekeepers ahead of an attack by Turkey.  These are Kurds who have lost 11,000 of their own soldiers in fighting and keeping ISIS at bay, and the thanks they get is trump pulling out the few special forces troops we had there, basically keeping Turkey in check from attacking, knowing that if they did and killed US troops, we would have to respond, but with us out of there, even though it was a small number, Turkey is no longer attacking the US, only our allies.  So now we are left with no true allies, at least while trump is still "president".  As much as I can't stand Pence, at least he wouldn't be stupid, or arrogant enough, (still not sure which lame reason trump had for doing this against ALL reason by actual Pentagon personnel) to simply pull our troops out with no warning whatsoever to our allies in Syria.....but by all means trump supporters, keep thinking that this dipshit in chief actually cares about anyone but himself.

Well, David, Trumpers are experiencing cognitive dissonance at this point. They realize:

1. Trump is an incompetent, evil idiot.

2. They've been supporting him.

Therefore, in order to convince themselves that they're not evil idiots as well, they have to either a) withdraw their support for him or b) lie to themselves, over and over, about Trump's crimes.

Some Republiholes are indeed choosing option a. Others--the true-blue, I mean, the true-orange "base," will die defending the entrance to the Fuhrer bunker. They've chosen to ignore reality, because reality is too painful for them.

Both of your responses are laughable. The number of troops ia approximately 1000 that will be gradually returning to America.  Yes, that's right, 1000. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill!

Stalker shows his ignorance yet again. The presence of those troops in the buffer zone between the Turkish and the Kurdish troops prevented a Turkish offensive and maintained the status quo. They did not dare to attack the Kurds if doing so would result in US casualties.

The Kurdish troops are being overwhelmed as we speak, thanks to Trump's stupidity and cowardice.

  The only thing being "overwhelmed" is my stomach as waves of nausea come over me as I read your idiotic postings.

Well, good! The sicker you get, the better! Thanks for making my day! 😁

In his post of 12:37pm on 12 October Kevin Lewis writes:

"The premise I'm making is that any third party candidate would most likely steal votes from Trump, not from the Democratic nominee. People vote for third party candidates as a form of protest--and a LOT of Republicans are feeling shame at the choice they made in 2016 and/or anger that Trump didn't give them the lollipops that he promised."

Maybe, . . . or maybe not, . . .

An article in Reason suggests one or more third-or-fourth-party candidates may siphon votes from the Democrats once again. And the Hillary concurs she will be the victim once again !

The Russians are coming ! ! !   The Russians are coming ! ! !  

"In an interview with Democratic campaign strategist David Plouffe, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton railed against Donald Trump's 'illegitimate' presidency, warned that voter suppression, social media propaganda, and foreign election interference will make it tough for the eventual Democratic nominee to win in 2020, and claimed that Russia would back a third-party spoiler campaign by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii).

'They [The Russians" - DD] are going to do third party again,' said Clinton. 'I'm not making any predictions, but I think they've got their eye on someone who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third party candidate. She's a favorite of the Russians and they have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far. That's assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she's also a Russian asset.' "

Ref: Reason.com

n.b. The above referenced article is a fine analysis of the Hillary's inability to recognize reality and the resulting mental machinations she "needs" to justify her loss. 

Hmm, . . . The Hillary opines that those clever Russians are presently scheming to ally themselves with rogue-Democrat and Green candidates to insure the re-election of President Donald J. Trump.

DonDiego opines that The Hillary, likely still suffering from her being denied Her Presidency, is grabbing at straws that her competition will once again stymy her efforts in 2020.

DonDiego does not know if  Rep. Gabbard (Dem) or Jill Stein (Green) are indeed on such a path, but he would be among the first to endorse their candidacy.  In fact, the more leftist candidates the better ! ! !

For the record poor old DonDiego feels no shame in voting for President Trump.  He is happy to have contributed to the defeat of The Hillary.

Also DonDiego never sought and does not currently seek any lollipops or other largess from The President.