Not since Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone’s vault 30 years ago has a media stunt landed with such a wet thud. Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol, longtime horse whisperer to the Republican half of Washington’s political establishment, had promised on Sunday that after months of begging any hawk with a pulse to run against the hated Donald Trump, there will finally ‘be an independent candidate – an impressive one, with a strong team and a real chance.’ Monday came and went without any such announcement, and then on Tuesday we learned that Kristol’s white knight was a mostly obscure conservative commentator in Tennessee named David A. French. Who doesn’t even know if he wants to run. Kristol’s clownshow machinations managed the unimaginable: It made the political party with the man-boobs stripper seem comparatively sober and sane.
The Libertarian Party, which came third in the presidential race four years ago, held its national convention in Orlando last week.

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