Pro-Life Third Party Would Elect Hillary

A new Rasmussen poll reflects what I already knew about the effect of a conservative third party candidate in the '08 election:

Rasmussen released the results of a poll to test the election outcome should right-wing evangelicals seek a third party candidate if Giuliani is the Republican nominee. The poll found that a pro-life third party candidate would draw 27% of conservative voters away from Giuliani. The end result in a three way race with Clinton would be a victory for the Democratic Senator with 46% of the vote, while Giuliani would carry 30% and the third party candidate would receive 14% of the vote.

Of course, the question remains whether Christian leaders would truly endorse this option if it all but ensured a Clinton victory.

However, conservative Christian leader James Dobson makes his case on the New York Times op-ed page: "If the major political parties decide to abandon conservative principles, the cohesion of pro-family advocates will be all too apparent in 2008."

In other words, Dobson would rather ensure the election of the greater of two evils.

It's hard to believe that 14% of the electorate would be dumb enough to vote for a third party, especially given the fact that their votes would ensure the victory of a candidate who is diametrically opposed to everything they supposedly hold dear. However, based on some recent statements from Dobson and others, it's likely that there are such short-sighted non-thinkers around.

UPDATE: I had some more thoughts on this issue while listening to Sean Hannity interview Rudy Giuliani on his show this afternoon. I've long said that one of the reasons I don't get all that excited about abortion as a presidential issue is because there's relatively little the president can do about it. There is, however, one thing a president can do that can have a dramatic effect on abortion and that's the appointment of judges.

Rudy Giuliani is pro-choice, but he has gone on record as being a strict constructionist and favoring judges like John Roberts, Sam Alito, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. What kind of judges would Hillary Clinton appoint? Ruth Bader Ginsberg? Is that what the third party folks really want, because that's what they're going to get if they end up throwing the election to the Democrats.

To me, the folks like James Dobson who are actively talking about a third party pro-life candidate remind me of the schoolyard nerd who threatens to take his ball and leave if the other kids don't play by his rules. It reflect a political, if not emotional, immaturity. Just read the last sentence in the excerpt above and see if that doesn't remind you of little Jimmy taking his ball and going home.