Dukat wrote:
Why does no one in the U.S. seem to think about the third way: voting for a third party candidate - there are about a dozen as far as I know.
Because of how the vote is structured. Look at Gary Johnson. He's polling around 8%, and is forecast to get 0 electoral votes, because it's not all in one place. If you look at the state-by-state polling, most states are solidly one way or the other (the "blue states" / "red states" problem). Everyone's fighting over the handful that could reasonably go either way. The president isn't one vote - it's a whole bunch of little votes, with a grand total at the end. (Really, you guys should get around to fixing that one of these days.)
Imagine 50 or so percent of the population voting for a third party ... having a third party candidate as president for the first time in U.S. history (or not?).
Honestly, if someone managed to get 50% of the vote, they almost certainly wouldn't be a third-party. (It could be argued that Trump is effectively a third-party, since he is textbook RINO.)