The Third-Party Problem

Longshot Presidential candidates can't win, but they can make a major candidate lose.

I’ve saw this 1980 editorial cartoon in one of my university political science textbooks, all those years ago, and never forgot it:

I like how instead of grabbing the guy with his “hands,” the Republican elephant uses his trunk.

John Anderson was a former Republican Congressman who saw an opening for a third-party Presidential bid as a moderate alternative to incumbent Jimmy Carter and challenger Ronald Reagan. He actually did better than people remember, winning 6.6% of the vote, which along with two dollars might get you a small coffee at Tim Hortons.