I'll just keep being the tedious pedant on this issue. No, Manchin doesn't have a national constituency. But even if he did, he'd need enough supporters in all 50 states to get on the ballots in every state. Even national name recognition (a/k/a a "national constituency," a la Ross Perot) isn't enough to get you that (and Perot didn't manage it, either.)This really assumes (perhaps rightly) that 'business leaders' are complete ignoramuses who don't know that 3rd party candidate do not win presidential elections and if there was one that cld it would certainly not be Joe Manchin who has no national constituency. https://t.co/MmDNKQAmSb
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) February 7, 2023
The national parties, for better or worse, have that all locked up. Their candidate gets on the ballot because they already comply with state laws by being the candidates of one of the two major parties.
It could be worse: we could have 5-10-15 candidates for POTUS every 4 years, and under the Constitution throw the results to the House for resolution.
Count your blessings.
Third parties in the United States are about as real as removing criminal supremes from the Court by impeachment. Or criminal presidents. Anyone who talks about a third party should be considered a Republican-fascist asset because they're the only ones who have ever benefited from third parties. Joe Manchin too.
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