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But even in my lifetime I saw a third party candidate win 5 states in the general

Yep the racial issue candidate George Wallace.... 3 of the 5 states by plurality and 46 EC votes.

But he didn't win nor force the race to the House.... And no one has even come close since... Hell Perot with almost 20% of the vote nationaly didn't get a single EC vote where the rubber meets the road.

..if you'll remember--George Wallace's candidacy was more than about race

Southern conservative democrats were irate with the Great Society and Johnson's prosecution of the Viet Nam War.

They still viewed the GOP as the Northeastern rich man's party--at that time they had no where to go.

History has shown us that they eventually came into the Republican party.

And Perot was not a legitimate candidate-never elected to any office--an autocratic demagogue, playing on the discontent of many emotion driven people and exploiting a true American hero in James Stockdale.

But my point is -- if enough people are upset about the right issues, feeling pushed away from their current party--in an information society, a new legitimate third party can and may be born...