General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: More and more likely: A third-party "real Republican" candidate for president. [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)and its candidate Gary Johnson as an alternative to Trump and the Democratic candidate.
The problem for the GOP pushing this option, of course, has to be that many might not come back for another election or two, or more. A while ago I read that the libertarian party leadership, watching the GOP trainwreck happen, was saying it wasn't about to let the mammoth GOP "take it over" either, so both parties are undoubtedly concerned about what a temporary union might do.
Nevertheless, there's been a big jump in searches on the libertarian option from people who aren't consulting the leadership of either party.
(Btw, libertarian is a personality type before it's a political ideology, and not one that could appeal to conservative personality types for very long at all. For very good reasons.)