Sorry #NeverTrump, your dream third-party candidate will do nothing but elect Hillary

According to CNN, the #NeverTrump movement, led (at least in part) by radio host Erick Erickson, is working hard to guarantee Hillary Clinton becomes the next President. Ok, fine, that's not quite what they're up to. In reality, they're trying to find a conservative third-party alternative to Donald Trump - a move that will achieve exactly the same outcome.

Conservative blogger and radio host Erick Erickson said Wednesday he's had a number of conversations about laying the groundwork for a third-party candidate to oppose Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the general election.

Erickson, a leader of the #NeverTrump movement, told CNN that he plans more such conversations in the coming days, and that the consensus among anti-Trump conservatives is that voters who won't support Trump or Clinton need another option.

"Donald Trump cannot consolidate the Republican base and many Republicans cannot accept a Hillary Clinton donor as the Republican nominee," Erickson said. "If the delegates ratify this madness in Cleveland, many of us will look elsewhere for a credible candidate to oppose both Trump and Clinton." Seriously. They're looking for a Ross Perot. They'd probably argue that they've already got a Perot, and they're looking for an alternative, but the point is the same. Their goal for 2016 is to bring in someone who will, without a doubt, split the GOP vote and hand the election to Clinton. In other words, they're trying to make 1992 happen again. These are not stupid people, mind you. Some of them are genuine, real-world, friends with whom I've been acquainted for decades. I know them too well to think they're unaware of the inevitable outcome of this plan. Here's the #NeverTrump "short list" of potential 3rd Party candidates as reported by The Hill:

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• Mitt Romney
• Ben Sasse (R-NE)
• General John Kelly
• Governor Nikki Haley
• Former NM Governor Gary Johnson
• Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI)
• Former Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK)
• Senator Rand Paul

First of all, Romney? Really? The guy that couldn't turn out the Republican vote in 2012 is suddenly going to unite the entire GOP behind his party-splitting run AND corral enough voters to overcome Hillary? That's simply insane. The rest of these guys are also non-starters, at least for the moment. I have a lot of respect for several of the names on this list, particularly Amash and Paul, but anyone who thinks that any of these guys could run a successful 2016 3rd party candidacy has a screw loose. No one, regardless of how fabulous a person and politician they are, could pull it off. Every name on this list - heck, the very concept of a 3rd party candidate - dooms the country to President Clinton.

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You may not like Trump, and there are plenty of reasons to disagree with the man, but he's the presumptive nominee. Assuming that holds, he's the only hope of stopping Hillary. Will Trump win? I don't know, and I won't make any promises about what he'll do should he take the White House. Like any politician, he may betray his promises once elected, or he may follow through. No one can be sure. God knows Republican voters have endured their share of betrayal over the last 25 years. However, we all know precisely what Hillary will do. #NeverTrump's independent candidate would actively pave the way for her Supreme Court picks, her executive orders, her gun-grabbing, her welfare expansion, and her immigration policy. Beware the third-party candidate. That way lies failure and madness.