Would Perot have become President if he hadn't imploded? (Imploded

[gateley]

may be the wrong word -- but you know what I mean.)

I'm just curious if a third party candidate could actually win.

[NYC_SKP]

1. He had an honest shot. The right third party candidate at the right time could win.

they'd need a hell of a war chest, of course.

[gateley]

6. Well he certainly had that -- I was just reading about him on Wiki

and he sunk millions into his campaign...

[yourout]

2. It would take a Howard Dean type to go "rogue" or someone with deep pockets and....

big name recognition.

[leftstreet]

3. His strong shot came by being in the debates. But they fixed that soon enough

Now they make it impossible for a third party to get in those damn debates

[Ken Burch]

4. Perot did come closer than anyone since Robert LaFollette in 1924

Had the insinuations about Perot's mental state not done him so much damage, he most likely still would not have won, but could have carried a number of states and then thrown the election in to the House of Representatives. It would have been interesting to see what bargaining power the man might have had in such a scenario, in terms of imposing his will on either Clinton or Bush in exchange for support.

Perot would have been a disaster as president(he's a natural antidemocratic authoritarian in the "self-made man" mode, which doesn't work with any leader that has to deal with a system involving separation of powers and multiple branches of government)but he might have had an "uncrowned king" role in whatever administration emerged in 1993.

[Synicus Maximus]

5. Sure. So could have Teddy Roosevelt when he ran as a third

party candidate if he hadn't imploded. Actually a number of third party candidates could have own if they just had more support.

[Greyhound]

7. He had everything needed except political savvy.

It's definitely possible.

[Chulanowa]

11. Which is terrifying, in his particular case

Might as well just abolish the Legislative and Judicial branches, then put Milton Friedman in charge.

[Ozymanithrax]

8. The best a third party candidate ever did was Teddy Roosevelt with the Bull moose Party...

A former progressive Republican President running against the Corporate Republicans and won 88 electoral votes, and lost. Perot never even came close to winning, but he spoiled it for Republicans and allowed Clinton to win with a plurality.

In theory, a third party could win. Historically, third parties are spoilers and never win.

[Chulanowa]

12. Calling it hte "Bull Moose" party would be like calling Democrats "The Donkey Party"

The party was actually the Progressive party.

Which is why I get a little chuckle every time I see my fellow lefties calling themselves "progressives"... since the actual "progressives" in American politics were the original centrist appeasers. Ah well.

[IndianaGreen]

9. Ross Perot did not implode--and his public explanation was bullshit

The real story is that Poppy Bush's CIA and corporate buddies threatened Perot's extensive defense contracts if he were to continue to pursue the Presidency.

Perot then came out with the stupid story about threats to his daughter's wedding.

[NNN0LHI]

10. I never seen Ross Perot and Gabby Hayes in a photograph together so I was skeptical

[Zynx]

13. I think under the right circumstances somebody like Bloomberg could win.

Ironically last year after the financial market collapse Bloomberg would probably have had some undue credibility on the issue and could have talked rings around Obama and McCain on the subject in the debates and made them look pretty silly. Of course, he would probably be one of the most Wall Street presidents ever, but that wouldn't have stopped him from saying, "I know Wall Street. I know how to fix it."

[OHdem10]

14. Perot showed the way for Third Parties. Wall Street and Council

of Foreign Relations would never have accepted Perot