In interview after interview, two-time failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been setting himself up as the “go-to” GOP wonderboy who can swoop in to beat frontrunner Donald Trump.
The leader of the #NeverTrump movement has refused to give clear answers on whether or not he would run, attempting to laugh off pointed answers with a “never say never” response.
With the opportunity of a brokered convention for the GOP still a mystery until after March 15th or later, Romney has made it clear that he would be open to at least voting for a third-party candidate which leaves the option open for his nomination on an other-than-republican ballot.
The only credible possibility to go “third party” is to essentially steal the ballot access of the nation’s third-largest political party, the Libertarian Party.
The LP is on track to have their presidential candidate on the ballot on all 50 states in November . . . and they don’t know who their candidate will be.
The Libertarians will choose their nominee in Orlando in late May.
Since the LP does not rely on primaries to choose their candidate, their convention is always contested with debates and voting taking place within a single weekend.
Worse for the Libertarians if someone is drooling over their multi-million dollar ballot line, their rules allow for 1,047 delegates this year and the party traditionally only fills half of their delegate slots – that leaves the opportunity for an easy takeover by well-heeled interests.
A long-time Libertarian who is running for the party’s National Chair seat in 2016, Mark Rutherford, has his eyes open to a possible takeover and had this to say to anyone trying to steal their ballot line, “The GOP Establishment is losing control of its own monster. It’s reaping what it’s sowed, and now it’s looking for the Libertarian Party’s ballot access to bail them out. Not on my watch!”
A takeover the Libertarian Party is far more “doable” than walking out of a contested GOP convention with the Establishment’s candidate of choice. However, the downside to a third-party run would be that it would all but insure that Hillary Clinton will be the next POTUS.
Comment below.