Brendan Nyhan

Thomas Friedman's third party nonsense

The dream of the independent third party presidential candidate shall never die -- at least in the columns of elite pundits like Thomas Friedman. In his latest effort, Friedman predicts "a serious third party candidate" for the presidenc...

Why third-party candidates don't win: Mickey Kaus rebuttal edition

Slate's Mickey Kaus didn't like my post criticizing his claim that John McCain can win the presidency as a third-party candidate: Backfill: Ron Brownstein's made the McCain/Perot point before. I've blogged Brownstein before. And Brenda...

Third party hype: Thomas Friedman redux

Yesterday Thomas Friedman proclaimed that a viable third party presidential candidate will emerge in 2012: Thanks to a quiet political start-up that is now ready to show its hand, a viable, centrist, third presidential ticket, elected...

The anti-third party meme spreads

An op-ed debunking third party hype is featured today on the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal website. Keep 'em coming...

Unlikely Huckabee third-party speculation

With John McCain's lock on the GOP nomination deflating elite interest in Michael Bloomberg, pundits have to look elsewhere to engage in pointless speculation about third-party presidential candidacies. Bizarrely, Robert Wright suggested...

Unity '08: 2008 is like 1860

TNR's Britt Peterson presents the right take on Unity '08 -- a third-party presidential candidate has no chance: Of course, Unity '08's coherence problem may be the least of their hurdles. As John Anderson, Ross Perot, and Ralph Nader c...

Twitter roundup

Brendan NyhanOct 5, 2010 at 4:33pmFrom my Twitter feed (9/30-10/5)BrendanNyhanOct 5, 2010 at 4:23pmThird party post updated with a response to @fivethirtyeight emphasizing theoretical reasons to doubt 3P viability: http://bit.ly/dBFRTVTh...

Paul won't run, Bloomberg shouldn't

Contrary to my counterintuitive hype of a possible Ron Paul third party presidential candidacy, he has apparently ruled out an independent bid: "I am committed to fighting for our ideas within the Republican Party, so there will be no th...

Bloomberg: No constituency, no rationale

The Washington Post and New York Times report on the group of old, increasingly irrelevant moderates who seem to want to draft Michael Bloomberg for a "national unity" government. There's a serious problem, however. Neither Bloomberg nor...

Twitter roundup

Twitter roundup (6/27-7/5) Brendan Nyhan Jul 5, 2011 at 1:46 PM Powered by Keepstream BrendanNyhan Brendan NyhanInteresting - @JonahNRO endorses my post on the myth of Reagan as Great Communicator in USAT: http://j....