No, they're not. The Trumpenfaithful are quite content with themselves and their Dear Leader. The "malcontents" I'm talking about are those quiet people (of all races and ethnicities, not just those we've previously thought of as fruitful ground for conservatives) who feel that there's no one and no group who represents their beliefs, desires, and hopes for the future. They are the ones we need to find and welcome.
You are correct. Voter participation indicates there are vast numbers of people who do not feel represented enough to even vote, perhaps even outnumbering those who do vote, and I strongly suspect a significant plurality of those who do vote do so out of desperation in order to avoid something which is so antithetical to their beliefs they will vote for anything but.
I think the word "Conservative" has to be avoided, though, as the result of hyphenation and misuse and equating the philosophy with the Republican brand has so damaged the word in terms of meaning that it is a meaningless term in the overall picture. Unfortunately, "Republican" has been co opted, too, and no longer means those who advocate a Republic, such as the Founders created.
We need to either select an existing Party and build it, or create an entirely new one. The former (and I have reiterated my thinking on this ad infinitum) would take selecting a Party based on platform, which essentially is in agreement with our goals. The latter is going to be difficult.
I will stump at this point for the Constitution Party, on the ballot or a recognized write-in in 32 of the 50 states at present, with 17 pending or in progress as write-ins.
Platform here: (and posted in the Constitution Party section of this website
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/board,126.0.html) and on the Party website:
https://www.constitutionparty.com/our-principles/platform-and-resolutions/That is already a fair force for a 'third party' and could be expanded relatively rapidly with an infusion of support.
(Personally, I find the Constitution Party already closest to where I want a political party to be in terms of principles. YMMV)
The Libertarian Party and the Green Party have a media advantage, as they are most often mentioned in the media.
The link to the Green Party home page is here, with their four pillars:
http://www.gp.org/ with links from there to their ten key values.
The Green Party is pretty much antithetical to what most who have been considered "Conservative" stand for, with an uber liberal platform. Not all the disaffected in America are disaffected because they think government does too much. Do not take my word for it, and become educated by checking them out.
The Libertarian Party is perhaps the best known, and will be on all 50 state ballots and in Washington DC. In a way, this is a measure of increased 'third' party support this year because this is the first time since 1996 that the Libertarian Party has had that broad ballot access.
The first thing I noted on the LP platform webpage is that the page is being translated into Spanish. Hmmmm.
Party platform here:
http://www.lp.org/platform Again, check them out, and agree or disagree as you will.
Much of the information on Party ballot availability is dated on websites like ballotpedia, and the best updates are likely to be found directly on the respective party websites.
