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It's possible, of course, that we won't need a third-party candidate. Trump could decide not to run for whatever reason. The Democrats could nominate a winning 2020 candidate. I am not willing to take those bets.

The ideal candidate for a new third party is someone who is widely perceived to be that rare combination of both good and great. We are looking for a proven leader of men and women, someone with clear, democratic – and moral – values that reflect the best of America, not our worst. We know people like this on the national stage now.

As a thought experiment, consider the possibilities of a ticket outside the partisan lanes and imagine the chemistry of radical combinations: Biden/Romney? Bill Gates/Hogan? Bloomberg/Haley? Howard Schultz/Bob Corker? Sandberg/Kasich?

As we have discussed narrow path to electing the first president outside the two major party primary system in 168 years is more navigable than most think. Heading into 2020, converging trends in American’s demands for a third party (a historic high of 61%), disapproval of Donald Trump holding steady above 50%, and the increasingly leftward drift of the Democratic Party suggest that electorate may be susceptible to merits of a new centrist party. Cynics will say that the structural impediments of ballot and presidential debate access, the overwhelming advantages of legacy parties’ fundraising and voter turn-out operations preordain failure, but they’re wrong; the legal and logistical hurdles are amenable to a combination of lawyering and resources. The bigger, more consequential factors come in terms of candidate quality and policy. I believe a candidate with five specific characteristics including a unique – and purposefully non-specific - policy agenda could limbo a win.

• This is what I think a successful third-party candidate looks like; a dream third party ticket would start off with enough name ID to be an instant contender. Building the name ID to run nationally is just too long and expensive of a process to accomplish in the 28 months until the next presidential election. We can’t beat a celebrity without some celebrity of our own, whether from politics, sports, business, or entertainment. Instantaneous name ID is so crucial because the candidate must

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