Given how partisan Congress is, I wonder what would happen if a 3rd party candidate was elected POTUS?

@frankm Maybe another Civil War? That’s what happened the last time the party system broke down so much—and even then the alternate parties (Constitutional Union & N. Democratic) didn’t come anywhere close. Douglas (N. Dem.) even got 11% more of the popular vote than Breckinridge (S. Dem.), but only won a single state, compared to Breckinridge’s 11.

First-past-the-post plurality voting for a single executive just makes it too difficult. Unless one of the parties falls apart, voting for a third party candidate amounts to voting for the primary opposition’s candidate. Look at the current shitshow in the UK—the Tories are on track for a solid majority with 40% of the popular vote.