Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol renewed his push for a third party alternative to presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump Sunday, asking former GOP candidate Mitt Romney and Senator Ben Sasse to run as independents.
“Look what’s happening to our country. Look at the two party nominees. An independent candidacy is still doable,” Kristol wrote, calling out Ben Sasse and Mitt Romney on Twitter.
Look what’s happening to our country. Look at the two party nominees. An independent candidacy is still doable. Please.@MittRomney @BenSasse
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) July 17, 2016
This isn’t the first time Kristol stumped for a third party run. Kristol publicly announced colleague David French’s supposed run for the White House, before French himself knew he was running.
French quickly announced that he would not run for president as a third party candidate, but not before Kristol ignited a media firestorm surrounding the idea of replacing Trump as the party nominee.
Kristol and French both joined a conference call organized by former Ted Cruz staffer Ted Lonegan where they coached delegates on what needed to be done in order to be able to vote the way they wanted to on the first ballot at the convention.
The anti-Trump movement lost a significant battle Saturday when the Convention Rules Committee voted to pass a rule mandating that all delegates are required by the party to vote for the candidate they were directed to support by the state they represent. Shortly after the vote, Kristol resumed his hope of a third party run.
Pundits widely consider a late third party run to be nearly impossible, since it is very difficult to get the needed number of signatures to get on the ballot in a large enough pool of states to make a difference in the general election.
Republican strategists also worry that even if a third party bid were successfull, it would take away from Trump’s numbers, leaving Clinton a straight shot to the White House in November.
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