It sure sank FDR in 1936 (who actually WAS responsible for prolonging the Great Depression, unlike President Trump). Just ask “Landslide Alf” Landon how that went.
Yikes, don't remind me. What an embarrassingly useless RINO turd he was. I'm not surprised FDR won in a blowout with Landon as the "opposition" candidate. His platform was pretty much "I'll do exactly what FDR is doing with the New Deal, only not so much, and I'll do it BETTER!"
It wasn't just the cowardly circumstances of the 1930s that caused him to run as RAT-lite either, the guy was a liberal Republican he whole life, supporting Teddy Roosevelt's third party bid in 1912 (another "big tent" RINO who demands conservatives MUST vote for a RINO, but he does not have to do the same and practice "party unity" when a conservative like Taft is the nominee). And years later, he gave "bipartisan" support to LBJ's "Great Society" scheme.
I heard his daughter was a RINO too, though I don't know much about her record. And apparently he has a grandson in Kansas GOP politics now. $50 says that guy routinely backs RAT bills.
Looking back on it, 1936 might have been one of the few times I would have been tempted to vote third party for President, given that Landon was the "Republican" candidate and had zero chance of winning. I wonder if there were any decent third party conservative candidates that year?