After a brief flirtation with the idea, David French–an Iraqi War veteran, constitutional lawyer, Bronze Star recipient, best-selling author and unquestionable Conservative–officially decided against running for president as an alternative to Hillary or Trump after giving the idea a time of study and prayer.
“I’m not the right person to challenge Trump and Hillary, but the path remains open for others,” French wrote in a column at National Review Online. Calling both candidates “dishonest” and “deceitful,” he concluded that they “should be disqualified from running for town council, much less leader of the free world.”
In an interview yesterday on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” French zeroed in on Trump as he provided more reasons for conservatives to find an alternative to Trump:
“Why would anyone believe a word that comes out of that man’s mouth? I mean, honestly, is there a single, credible, rational argument that he tells the truth? He contradicts himself by the minute.”
No argument here. I think Trump could make the Guinness Book of World Records for the quickest presidential candidate to hold both sides of an issue. But what about French’s claim that “the path remains open for others” to challenge Trump and Hillary? Based on some recent polling, he just might be on to something.
According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, nearly 1 in 4 voters would choose someone other than the two liberals from New York. When given the choice among Trump, Hillary or Libertarian Gary Johnson, the results were:
- Clinton 39 percent
- Trump 37 percent
- Johnson 8 percent
- Someone else 12 percent
- Undecided 4 percent
That’s 24% who prefer someone other than the two major party candidates. And among the critical unaffiliated voters who tend to decide elections, 34% prefer someone other than Trump or Hillary.
Meanwhile, a Reuters poll over the weekend shows a different picture, with Clinton opening up a double-digit lead over Trump. According to that survey, 46 percent of likely voters back Clinton and 35 percent Trump, with 19 percent (nearly 1 in 5) saying they would not support either.
And here’s one more little tidbit to consider: According to a poll by Data Targeting, a total of 65% of voters are somewhat, pretty or very willing to support a candidate who isn’t Trump or Hillary.
With Trump’s chronic flip-flops, along with Hillary’s never-ending scandals, we could be looking at the best opportunity in modern history to see an independent candidate give the two-party system a run for its money.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” David is also a contributor to RedState.com.
His daily commentary is nationally syndicated via Salem Radio Network.
