Bush's Third-Party Threat

[Rosco T.]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/21/politics/main619019.shtml

Bush's Third-Party Threat
NEW YORK, May 21, 2004

By David Paul Kuhn,
CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer

While Democrats fret over the possibility of Ralph Nader causing them to lose another election by stealing votes on the left, President Bush may face an even greater third-party threat from the right wing. The Libertarian Party nominee could cost Mr. Bush his job in 2004.

With conservatives upset over the ballooning size of the federal government under a Republican White House and Congress – and a portion of the political right having opposed the war in Iraq from the outset or else dismayed at how it's being handled – the Libertarian nominee may do for Democrats in 2004 what Nader did for Republicans in 2000.

It is a hypothesis not yet made in the mainstream media. But interviews with third-party experts and activists across the country, as well as recent political patterns, illustrate that there could be a conservative rear-guard political attack against President Bush.

Libertarians will be on at least 49 state ballots, several more than the most optimistic expectations of Nader. While Democrats rally around their nominee, the base of the Republican Party is showing some signs of fragmentation.

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[LoZoccolo]

1. Nah.

The moderates who might actually prefer the Libertarian candidate...I could imagine them being practical and voting Republican anyways, or maybe voting for Kerry to create gridlock between the Republican congress and a Democratic president. I think if you wanna cause a split you'd have to attack Bush* from the far-right, or with a protectionist conservative.

[punpirate]

2. If prior Libertarian percentages are any indication...

... they're not going to be significant this year, either. Now, if the Roy Moore campaign were to develop any traction (which doesn't seem likely), the combination of Libertarians and Moore could be troublesome.

Still, I think the defining characteristic of this campaign is not going to be the Libertarians, but Bush himself and the people running him. If Democrats pay attention, are savvy to Rove's very old tricks, they can deflect them, while Bush implodes of his own dead weight.

"The weapon of mass destruction most worrisome to this country right now is George W. Bush."

[Semi_subversive]

5. I hope Roy Moore's candidacy

moves some more of those dumbass MFs away from Bush.

[PeaceProgProsp]

3. The thing that makes no sense to me is this:

Once you convince 99.9% of your potential voters that if they vote for the third party you lose, the only people who will not vote for you are either people who don't want you to win, or don't care if you lose.

Just because liberterians are on the right side of the spectrum doesn't mean they're going to vote for Bush if there is no Liberterian candidate.

[usregimechange]

4. Michael Peroutka another threat, help both get on the ballot nt

[Tellurian]

6. Bush is going to feel first hand, what Nader did to Gore...

Nader will be draining votes from the Right this time, not the Left.
I don't think the Libertarians will bother running anyone. This race has become very expensive. The majority are interested in dumping Bush and Kerry is in the right place at the right time..