Colegreen_c12 posted...
From: red sox 777 | #017
A legit Tea Party candidate (or perhaps Ron Paul) entering the general election would guarantee Obama victory, yeah. But I doubt anyone will actually decide to run, knowing the consequences (4 more years of Obama).
This isn't neccessarily true.
The closer an election is the less likely people are to vote for a third party.
It appears people care more about someone losing than someone winning.
Of course, in an election you aren't trying to convince the people who are going to vote Dem/Rep no matter what, you're trying to convince the people who still haven't decided, and those people tend toward the most milquetoast candidate in terms of promises and ideals. Things like Hope and Change are what got Obama elected, not because he convinced either side, but because he convinced the middle. A tea partier is all about extreme positions, which are not what people in the middle tend to like. Mitt Romney is the king of not taking extreme positions, which is why people call him the most likely to beat Obama.