Would you back 3rd party for president?

With resignation (or applause) in the political air over the seemingly inevitable 2024 presidential nominations of the two leading candidates of the Democratic and Republican parties, few other names are being bandied about as likely occupants of the White House come January 2025. But should there be?

Are there current or future third-party candidates for president of the United States who very much ought to be part of the conversation as viable choices by American voters?

That's our Question of the Week for readers.

Prominent names are already making their cases that voters ought to reject any inevitability associated with Joe Biden and Donald Trump as the only candidates who will matter in the election.

Anti-vaccine crusader Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has an old political handle and yet antiestablishment credentials going for him in his bid. Formerly considering a run as a Democrat, he has “declared independence” from the Democratic Party, saying Americans should need more choices than “two candidates anointed by shadowy institutions.”

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How to have your say:

Harvard professor Cornel West has also said that he will run as an independent, having left the Green Party and running on his own to “end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure true democracy!”

Is either candidate likely to get your vote? If not, are there others you would like to see step into the race?

Joe Manchin, the renegade Democratic senator from West Virginia who is stepping down from his seat, has flirted with the No Labels party, which says it would like a ticket including a moderate Republican and a moderate Democrat. Would you vote for him?

Doyle McManus in the L.A. Times notes a poll in seven swing states last month found that “16% of Biden voters said they might vote for Kennedy or another independent candidate, while only 11% of Trump voters said they were tempted to take the third-party route.” Who do you think a thirdparty candidate would help or hurt most? Could such a candidate win, or only, as in the past, be a spoiler?

Email your thoughts to opinion@scng.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence. Provide a daytime phone number (it will not be published).

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By Bruce Tinsley