Of course he was a joke. In my opinion he had no intentin of winning - just getting Clinton in office. When he realized he was coming very close to winning, he dropped out 'because Bush was going to disrupt his daughter's wedding'. Now come on - really. Then got back in when Bush pulled ahead.
We need a third party. A third party does not have to win the election to win. If the REpublican party knew that if they did not adhere to the principles that got them elected, we would vote next time for a third party - you better believe it would change things. As for getting a nutjob in the White House - remember, Carter, Clinton, LBJ, we've had them and I am not at all pleased with the one we have now - I just won't call him names.
The media and the two parties has everyone so tied up with the idea that we must never, never, leave the fold, if we do we will fall of the ends of the earth. Well guess what, you won't.