I welcome stronger third parties at levels below the presidential ticket. Unfortunately, until we can get rid of the Electoral College, a strong third party with the ability to pull in EC votes which may mean no candidate gets the necessary 270 will inevitably mean Congress will elect a Republican to the White House.

People have plenty of options down ballot. During my congressional run as a Democrat (who got the standard 32.5%) in a safe Republican (62.6%) district we also had a Libertarian (2.4%) a Green (1.6%) and USTaxpayer candidate (.9%).

Third Parties will never EVER be successful and strong enough to compete presidentially unless they do the ground work. My team knocked on doors and canvassed voters. I saw no such activity by the Libertarian or Green candidates. They just don't do the work.

The last "strong" 3rd party was 1968. Nixon vs Humphrey vs Wallace. Wallace got 46 electoral votes from the racist former confederate states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. Nixon still got 301 EC votes - safe win by 31 votes. Had Texas went with Wallace (25 votes) it would only have taken a win by Wallace in South or North Carolina, Virginia or Florida and Congress would have chosen the presidency. While it was a different era, I strongly suspect, by viewing the EC map of that election, that Nixon would have won in a Congressional vote anyway.