Reply #3: It's a Bit Like What Ross Perot Was Trying to Do

[On the Road]

with the Reform Party. It's not a bad idea, but it's too hard in this country to get a party off the ground. I might join one if it had a chance of succeeding and "moderate" meant more than "Dem-and-Rep lite."

A third party can only succeed if (1) anger with both parties became very widespread, and (2) it started at the grassroots level with local elections.

Fusion balloting would help, meaning that a third party could list the name of the Dem or Rep candidate on a separate ballot line, but most states other than NY prohibit it, and the Supreme Court wouldn't mandate it.

However, at the local level I don't think politicians are as ideological or the public disenchantment is as high. Which means it could only happen in a crisis.