Union's CPAC conference at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., on Thursday, March 3, 2016. Bill Clark/CQ…
Now that Donald Trump is the last man standing in the Republican presidential race, his critics in the party are intensifying their search for a candidate they could back as a serious third-party alternative.
Political operatives are courting donors, calling potential candidates and developing legal contingency plans for overcoming onerous ballot qualification laws.
"This is as much as anything a battle for the future of American party politics," said Republican strategist Joel Searby, who is working with conservative writer Bill Kristol, among others, to identify a third-party candidate for the Nov. 8 presidential election.
The group Conservatives Against Trump, which includes blogger Erick Erickson, has been holding calls and meetings to discuss third-party candidates as well as other options to stop the New York billionaire from winning the White House.
More:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/chagrined-anti-trump-republicans-seek-to-recruit-third-party-candidate/ar-BBsI1dT?li=BBnb7Kz"The possibility for a third party to succeed are slim to none," said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University. "The structure of American politics have consistently made it impossible for third parties to gain ground."
One of the biggest obstacles to a third-party run is simply getting on the ballot in enough states to mount a viable campaign.
Texas requires more than 79,000 signatures from voters who did not participate in either primary. Its deadline is Monday. Among other states, North Carolina's deadline is the end of May, and Illinois and Florida in mid-July.
The current system protects the ruling classes two party monopoly.
