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Home Front: Politix
Victor Davis Hanson: Tucker Carlson Is Playing a Dangerous Game
2026-08-14
[Daily Signal] Tucker Carlson recently assembled a group of like-minded apostate MAGA conservatives for a meeting to discuss apparently a possible third-party run in 2028. I think a lot of us were mystified for a lot of reasons. One of them was that third parties in American political history really have had no record in the modern era of ever winning.

They do affect the election in some cases, but that’s only to hurt the party that is more ideologically akin to the third-party run. For example, in 1912, William Howard Taft, the incumbent president, was challenged by his predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, who didn’t like the first term of Taft. He created the Bull Moose third party.

What was the effect of that? He split the conservative Republican vote, and thereby, he elected one of the most liberal progressives in the history of the United States, contrary to both his views and Taft’s, Woodrow Wilson.

Ross Perot was a conservative. He said he was from Texas. So was George H.W. Bush, up for reelection in 1992 against Bill Clinton. What did Perot do? He ran a third-party ticket. He was angry at the Bushes. He felt they were not correct on some conservative issues, debt and other things. And he succeeded in ensuring that Bill Clinton, a Democrat, would win the election with less than 50% of the vote.

He did it again in 1996. He may have had an effect even on that election when Bob Dole lost the election, but Bill Clinton, once again, didn’t win 50% of the vote, given the 10% that Ross Perot won.

And of course, most famously in 2000, Al Gore ran against George W. Bush. It was a very close election. It was contested in Florida. And as you remember, after the vote was counted and George W. Bush won, Al Gore contested it. He lost that vote. But the margin was almost minuscule in Florida, which determined the entire election.

You could argue that the 1% or 2% of the vote that third-party candidate Ralph Nader got ensured that Gore lost that election.
Posted by:Besoeker

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Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2026-08-14 20:57  

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Posted by: Chantry   2026-08-14 18:22  

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Posted by: Grom the Reflective   2026-08-14 17:43  

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