gut;1832458 wrote:Are you sure that wouldn't result in BOTH parties vilifying the POTUS simultaneously?
Oh, it will, but if the third-party candidate ends up having policy agreements with both of them, it will be hard to treat them as a full yin to the yang.
These will arise because the respective parties will have to come up with new material. If the third party were the Libertarian Party, the respective parties wouldn't be able to open fire regardless of the topic, because there are topics on which each party agrees (at least mostly) with the Libertarian Party. They'll have to look before they shoot.
When it comes to fiscal policy (in theory) or the Second Amendment, the Republicans would have little choice but to show love to a Libertarian.
When it comes to gay marriage, profiling, and foreign policy, the Democrats would have little choice but to voice their support for a Libertarian.
And with ingesting illegal substances, both parties would have to at least show some support (Republicans for things like unprocessed milk, trans fat, or 80oz soft drinks; Democrats for things like weed or shrooms).
So, there wouldn't be this ability to feign outrage no matter what the issue, because if either party were to do so, they would ostracize relevant portions of their voter base.