Electiorist lib here with a question that has never made sense to me.
In every election going back to Clinton in 1992 the libertarian right wing has siphoned more presidential votes off the GOP than any marginal left vote. Howie Hawkins had what, less than 500k votes total in the 2020 election? I'm sure La Riva had a lot fewer, as she wasn't on the ballot in most states.
Meanwhile, the last time I checked if you give around 2/3 of Jo Jorgenson's votes to Trump he wins Pennsylvania. So what's the deal? I get that the GOP likes to cosplay as ancaps and all, but why don't they ever demonize third parties for the sake of "unity" in the same way that libs go after moderately left third parties-- probably doing it in a gloating fashion even as we speak now?
They don't really have to, since they aren't trying to be a "big tent" like the Democrats. They have their voting base, they spoon-feed them talking points, and they turn out to vote; end of story. Fringe loonies like Jorgenson voters don't really factor into it, since they aren't True Believers. The GOP usually focus harder on suppression efforts than on outreach, and with them sweeping state legislatures, 2022 is going to be a doozy. I also don't really get the impression that they (as in the party leadership) really gave a shit whether Trump won reelection or not.