[discostu]

Which has no bearing on this. I didn’t say 5 GOPers going independent would pull support away from anybody or benefit anybody. I said it would be a hollow gesture that had no effect other than to end their careers.

Building a 3rd party here would have nothing to do with somebody going independent. To do it they need to be national but not aim federal until they’ve got good numbers. Win a lot of legislature seats, mayorals, governorships. Stuff where the structure isn’t rigged, or is at least small enough to de-rig. Then, when they have enough of a following that they could actually win 10 to 20% of congressional seats (enough so that even though they’d be a minority they could seriously gum up the works, so they’d have to start being included) aim for the fed.

Of course as it sits right now all the 3rd parties take joy in losing. They think of themselves as noble Quixotes, so they aim for all kinds of stuff they can’t win and remain proud of their purity. None of them will ever succeed because they don’t want to.

[jjsheridan5]

I think we are talking apples and oranges. I agree that 5 GOPers going independent (if that was all there was), would have no effect. I disagree slightly, in that I don't think it would be a career killer in some cases (Cruz, for example, would cruise to re-election easily), but that is neither here nor there.

I also agree that most 3rd party ventures are selfish and meaningless gestures, designed to elevate one's sense of value. A serious 3rd party venture would entail picking off a lot of low hanging fruit in local and statewide positions, and also "borrowing" a lot of the grass-roots manpower that makes up the infrastructure of the Republican party. It would also take time.

Either way, I think that I agree with what you are saying.