Why there will be no third party candidate for Christian conservatives

Jay Cost exactly puts his finger on what is going on with the group of Christian conservatives who floated the idea of a third party candidacy if Giuliani got the nomination. First of all, it would be difficult to recruit such a candidate when the only possibilities for such a candidacy is either ticking off conservatives and being blamed for a Hillary victory or doing so poorly that the power of the Christian right is forever after pooh-poohed. Cost theorizes that the real purpose of their recent announcement was to call attention to Rudy's positions on social issues and get the message out to voters who might be unaware of where Rudy stands on issues like abortion and gay rights.

I think this approaches why these leaders are making the noises they are making. I think that perhaps they are trying to signal to their constituency that Giuliani does not stand with them. Do not underestimate the monetary expense of this kind of mass communication. The rank and file Christian evangelical voter is not yet paying full attention (remember that most of them are not members of the interest groups that these people lead) - and to communicate a message to them could be very expensive because they are diffused across the country. They do not all live in one or two media markets. They are in every media market. Accordingly, they might need to do something drastic, like get Giuliani's pro-choice stance in all the papers and television shows by threatening a bolt from the GOP.

I still think that, if these guys are truly worried about Giuliani's possible candidacy, that they should unite behind one of the candidates, Huckabee perhaps, and go all out for him. They'd do better with a positive message than a negative one. And if they have the political influence they are purported to have, they could have a serious impact.