Third Party Candidates and 2008

About a year and a half ago I wrote the following:

I'm not going to predict any individuals but i will predict that the election will be decided by at least two strong third party candidates. I'm not saying one of them will win but they will decide the election. Of course it won't be the first time, Ross Perot's race gave Bill Clinton the win in 92 and Ralph Nader gave the election to George W. Bush in 2000.

This time it will be different there will be two strong third party candidates, one on the left and one on the right. If Hillary gets the nomination there will be a large chunk of the Democratic base will be looking for an alternative. It really doesn't matter who gets the Republican nomination. The party has reached the point where the party itself is polarized and a large portion will not support the nominee regardless of who it is. The 2008 election will be like none we have ever seen.

Today we have this from Michael Scherer.
Religious right may blackball Giuliani

Sept. 30, 2007 WASHINGTON -- A powerful group of conservative Christian leaders decided Saturday at a private meeting in Salt Lake City to consider supporting a third-party candidate for president if a pro-choice nominee like Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination.

The meeting of about 50 leaders, including Focus on the Family's James Dobson, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who called in by phone, took place at the Grand America Hotel during a gathering of the Council for National Policy, a powerful shadow group of mostly religious conservatives. James Clymer, the chairman of the U.S. Constitution Party, was also present at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the proceedings.



"The conclusion was that if there is a pro-abortion nominee they will consider working with a third party," said the person, who spoke to Salon on the condition of anonymity. The private meeting was not a part of the official CNP schedule, which is itself a closely held secret. "Dobson came in just for this meeting," the person said.

The decision confirms the fears of many Republican Party officials, who have worried that a Giuliani nomination would irrevocably split the GOP in advance of the 2008 general election, given Giuliani's relatively liberal stands on gay unions and abortion, as well as his rocky marital history.

Another problem for the Republicans may be the Libertarians who will be less than excited about Rudi's love of a police state and never ending occupations.

And then there is the Hawkish Hillary. Her nomination will leave much of the Democratic base alienated. The same can be said for anti-occupation Independents like our very own Jazz.

I repeat, "the 2008 election will be like none we have ever seen".