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He's a pretty strong advocate of getting independent candidates national ballot access. Winning a state and causing turmoil (even if he isn't the ultimate winne

• cookiecaper 10y ago
  People say this, but we had a similar situation as recently as Perot and it didn't change anything (though admittedly, Perot did not win a majority in any state). Perhaps now that Trump successfully "hijacked" the GOP from the establishment and Sanders gave Clinton a serious run for her money in the primary, there will be more flexibility on independent ballot access and other third-party friendly laws, since major politicians may see that as a last resort. McMullin may be a case study for them, so I can see how he'd act as supporting evidence for this type of movement, but it'd only ever be enacted out of fear that the establishment will be unable to control the party structure moving forward.
  • the_watcher 10y ago
    It's definitely an uphill battle. Also, it remains to be seen if Trumpism requires Trump himself to remain viable or not (I'm skeptical, but I was skeptical of essentially everything about his candidacy's viability, so what do I know?). If it turns out that Trumpism was more about him than his actual ideas, then McMullin will be less impactful. He's really a fairly generic Utah Republican, so if Trumpism fades, his success will just be pointed to as evidence that the GOP still works. Gary Johnson taking a state would be more impactful, as he'd have operated outside of the two major parties for multiple election cycles (I do not find this likely at all).