August 26, 2013

A Third-Party Candidate on the Rise in 2016?

By Sierra Rayne
There are many lessons to be found in studying the American presidential election record. We're currently moving through a period of profound frustration with the Republican Party.  Many were looking and hoping for a Reagan-esque candidate to arise during the 2012 primary debates.  Alas, there wasn't one anywhere to be found. Obama and Romney took 98.17% of the popular vote.  Obama won by 3.85%, and with only 1.83% of the popular vote going to candidates outside the top two parties, the non-two party vote was effectively irrelevant. But it hasn't always been this way, and -- if history is any guidance -- the tide will turn again, and soon. The following figures show the percentage of the popular vote outside the top two candidates and the percentage of the popular vote for the third-place candidate since 1824. What we see is a cyclical rise-and-fall of two-party dominance.  Prior to the current 2000-present period, the average number of elections in a...(Read Full Article)