Because I Can Resist Anything But Temptation...

'Sore loser' laws make Trump's threat at third-party run unlikely: report https://t.co/1GIHSK1O9m

— Raw Story (@RawStory) March 6, 2023

And the question of a third-party run by any candidate is so tempting. Because it's never worked and it never will. TR had a better chance with his Bull Moose party than Ross Perot did with his, well, I forget the name of what they called themselves, but "No Label" would be fine, because they declared Perot the candidate who would win votes from people who didn't want to vote for Clinton or Bush.

Even if Perot hadn't been a national crackpot, he never got on the ballot in all 50 states.  He was never more than a spoiler, but that assumes Poppy would have won and we'll never know, will we?

Sore loser laws, in case you're wondering (I was!) bar a candidate in a major party primary from being on the ballot as a third-party candidate.  The states with these laws are: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arkansas and Alabama.  91 electoral votes out of 270 knocked out before you start, even if you can get on the ballot in all 50 states.  And you probably can't:

“It’s a draining process,” [Capital University law professor Mark Brown] told Bloomberg. “I know Trump’s wealthy, but it costs a lot of money to navigate, even without the legal challenges which are sure to come.”

Well, Trump isn't wealthy, but he gladly spends other people's money.  Ross Perot was wealthy (he could buy and sell Trump out of the change in his couch cushions) and he didn't want to finance the effort it would take just to get him on all 50 ballots (apart, again, from his leaving the race and then returning to the race because he was, as I said, a crackpot.  "If you're so smart, how come you're not rich?" is not a real thing; at all.)  Who would give Trump the money to gain ballot access across the country?  Who would organize it and pull it off?  The same clowns that brought us Four Seasons Landscaping, "Release the Kraken!", and the "perfect phone call" to the Georgia SOS?

Yeah, sure.  Trump can't even hire decent lawyers for his criminal defense.  What chuckleheads are going to organize the legal behemoth it will take to mount a serious third-party effort?

There are, by the way, lots of third-party efforts every 4 years.  If you don't hear about them, it's because they   don't even amount to nuisance value.  Trump's effort will be no more deadly to democracy than the attempts of Lyndon LaRouche, and amount to about as much electorally.  Such a shellacking Trump will never stand for. If he can't beat DeSantis or Haley or Pompeo, he'll just go back to Florida and complain about "rigged" primaries.

And wait to find out who wants him in their jail first:  Georgia, New York, or the feds.