Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Suicidal History of Third Parties in America


Intentionally dividing your army into two distinct, warring factions would be unthinkable for a military commander. It is equally suicidal for a resurgent conservative movement. That is why talk of a third-party run is nonsensical and defeatist.

But don't trust me. Consider the history of third-party presidential candidates in America:


YEAR PARTY CANDIDATE VOTE% ELECTORAL OUTCOME in Next Election
1832 Anti-Masonic William Wirt
7.8
7
Endorsed Whig Candidate
1848 Free Soil Martin Van Buren
10.1
0
5% of the vote, absorbed by GOP
1856 Whig-American Millard Fillmore
21.5
8
Dissolved
1860 Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge
18.1
72
Dissolved
1860 Constitutional Union John Bell
12.6
39
Dissolved
1892 Populist James B. Weaver
8.5
22
Absorbed by Democratic Party
1912 Progressive Teddy Roosevelt
27.5
88
Returned to Republican Party
1912 Socialist Eugene V. Debbs
6.0
0
Won 3% of the vote
1924 Progressive Robert M. LaFollette
16.6
13
Returned to Republican Party
1948 States' Rights Strom Thurmond
2.4
39
Dissolved
1948 Progressive Henry Wallace
2.4
0
Won 1.4% of the vote
1968 American Independent George Wallace
13.5
46
Won 1.4% of the vote
1980 Independent John Anderson
6.6
0
Dissolved
1992 Reform H. Ross Perot
18.9
0
Won 8.4% of the vote
1996 Reform H. Ross Perot
8.4
0
Did not run
2000 Reform Ralph Nader
2.7
0
Ran Next election
2004 Green Ralph Nader
1.0
0
--

The Republican Party must be the vessel for conservatism to succeed. Ronald Reagan ran as a GOP outsider and won two successive landslides.

Conservatives must primary pseudo-Republicans like Dede Scozzafuzza (whatever) and boot them out of the party. We must stand for limited government, national defense, free markets, legal immigration, fiscal prudence and -- most of all -- the Constitution as the founders intended it.

That is why talk of a third party run must be dismissed. Consider it a fool's errand -- or the surreptitious work of a Pelosi-Obama-Reid Democrat.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

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