This works because almost all the US uses first-past-the-post elections for the Presidential general election. So you get outcomes like this:


Scenario 1:

Biden: 10 votes

Trump: 9 votes

Kennedy/Stein/West: 0 votes

Biden wins the state


Scenario 2:

Biden: 9 votes

Trump: 9 votes

Kennedy/Stein/West: 1 vote

Tied vote, decided by game of chance/lawsuit


Scenario 3:

Biden: 8 votes

Trump: 9 votes

Kennedy/Stein/West: 2 votes

Trump wins the state


This is why you see huge financial support from Republican billionaires for third party candidates who have no chance of winning.

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[–] 3 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

I think it's more that the Republican party recognizes what an albatross Trump has become and are trying to mitigate the damage to down ballot Republicans by old-school Republicans staying home because they're fed up with Trump.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    They do? He’s their candidate and they sure seem to be embracing almost everything he does. I don’t really think there’s much that supports this viewpoint

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    k- then what's your theory on why Republican donors would support a third-party candidate?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Because it will pull Biden voters away more than it will pull Trump voters away

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    What third party candidate do you think would pull more voters from Biden than Trump?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)
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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    Please re-read my answer since you clearly didn’t read it at all.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (1 child)

    What third party candidate do you think would pull more voters from Biden than Trump?

    I'll give you another chance to prove your functionally literate.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (1 child)

    *you’re

    The article directly addresses that and you could google it anyway. Why don’t we skip to the part where you make the point you were going to make and stop pretending like you care about my answer?

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