> Next election, politicians look at past elections. They look at what percentages each candidate got, they analyze that based on each platform, the numbers, the demographics of each state and what they voted for.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence for this? In 2012, the GOP did a huge study on why they lost and came to the conclusion they needed to court minorities. Not only has that not been attempted by the Presidential nominee, but it's failed at the congressional level too. As for third-party candidates, it's not clear what effect Perot, Nader and others have had over the years beyond helping elect Bill Clinton and W.
A large third-party vote this election is almost certainly going to be a reflection on the likability of the two main candidates, and not on their policies.
Meanwhile the risk that our country could be substantially worse off in the meantime is real, and there's precedent for that.
That's in the party primaries - where each vote is literally a stamp of approval. That's the whole point of power in a two party system - you have your vetting and approval at the primary level, where Sanders and his supporters changed the DNC platform. Then at the national presidential level, you have voters side with which party represents them and their interests better. If you aren't satisfied by either then go get people with like minded views to participate in the primary process.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence for this? In 2012, the GOP did a huge study on why they lost and came to the conclusion they needed to court minorities. Not only has that not been attempted by the Presidential nominee, but it's failed at the congressional level too. As for third-party candidates, it's not clear what effect Perot, Nader and others have had over the years beyond helping elect Bill Clinton and W.
A large third-party vote this election is almost certainly going to be a reflection on the likability of the two main candidates, and not on their policies. Meanwhile the risk that our country could be substantially worse off in the meantime is real, and there's precedent for that.