Americans Elect (AE), the new political party that claims to be a non-partisan non-party, is now on the California ballot. What a shocker! The left coast leviathan is the first big state to endorse a staking horse!  After reading a piece in American Thinker, a Beverly Hills Courier reporter called AE HQ to inquire about the "dirty tricks" potential  of third party candidacies.  Predictably, their spokesperson, lleana Wachtel, denied any trickery and claimed that the new party was formed to give American a "real choice."

Spokesmen for AE continue to insist that the sources of AE's funding can not be revealed because donors might be intimidated.  Non-profit status protects such organizations from too much scrutiny.

Choice indeed! The chances of AE electing anyone are nil; but, their potential to skew close races is enormous. After the two Bill Clinton victories (1992 and 1996), wife Hillary should have sent Ross Perot a case of cognac.  In one race, Perot's revolutionaries siphoned off 20% of the national vote.  No coherent analyst could argue that Perot voters would have voted for Clinton had there been no Perot. Then as now, the vast majority of anti-two party voters fall on the right side of politics -- just as a near totality of AE principals and their media supporters today come from the Left.

Donald Trump tells anyone who will listen that he is being courted by the AE crowd as a potential third party presidential candidate. Ego aside, it's hard to believe that Trump doesn't see through the smoke and mirrors of this well-timed electoral scam. But then again,  engorged egos love to play the spoiler.

Beyond folks like Trump, the Republican dilemma is further compounded by the usual RINO inertia. The Savannah Morning News calls Americans Elect an "air sandwhich." Such cynicism may represent a dangerous slice of  conventional wisdom. Conservatives seem unwitting or unwilling to expose the liberal puppeteers behind Americans Elect. Most of today's political discontent (i.e. Tea Partiers, independents, and Libertarians) is boiling on the right hand side of the political spectrum. The hard Left is content with Barack Obama, thank you; or at least not unhappy enough to throw him under the bus.

A restive mushy American center is in play in 2012; a center which Obama has probably  lost already before another presidential vote is cast.. With Americans Elect, the Left seems ready to exploit or neutralize this center of discontent with a "third way" charade. Sadly, with conservatives, inertia is often the loudest voice in the room. If the polite Right refuses to light up the AE Trojan horse, then maybe the malcontents will stay at home - or vote for the Pinocchios, just as Democratic Party strategists seem to expect.  Sometimes we get what we want and sometimes we get just what we deserve; another four years of Barak Obama.

"They say, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth,' but when it's a Trojan horse, you do."

 - Eric Johansson

G. Murphy Donovan writes frequently about national security and politics.