"A third-party candidate could make some noise in 2012"

This commentary makes some good points:

 Is 2012 the year of the third party?

The Republican Party, which conducted its first caucus Tuesday in Iowa, has yet to select a firm front-runner. President Obama's popularity has fallen, and the economy is slow to recover. More than 2.5 million people have switched from Republican or Democrat affiliations since 2008, raising the number of independent voters to 24 million.

Political experts believe this is the right recipe for a third political party to step out of obscurity and seize the national spotlight.

[...]But as we have seen in the GOP race, anything can happen in this current political climate. A third-party candidate could make some noise in 2012.

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