Currently, however, there is a credibility gap for third party candidates, Nader said. Nader: Billionaires to party in 2016

For third party-inclined billionaires, 2016 is already looking like a promising political year, said Ralph Nader on Monday.

“Here’s what I think is going to happen,” said Nader, who has served as third-party candidate himself, speaking on C-SPAN. “We will have the usual Green Party and libertarian parties in 2016. But there are some mega-billionaires who are seriously considering running third party. And the minute a mega-billionaire announces, like Ross Perot, they get enormous press, they get the polls and they are in play.”


Nader, who in 2011 told POLTICO that he wanted to see New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg run as a third-party candidate, again referenced the New York leader and said it is “highly probable” that people with similar capital will make a presidential play next cycle.

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“Mayor Bloomberg almost did it in 2012, and I think it is almost highly probable that, because there are so many mega billionaires now, a lot of whom are in their forties and fifties, they’ll say, ‘Look, we’ve had enough, we are going to go for a three- or four-party race,’” Nader said. “And all they gotta do is write a check for themselves. So when someone like Mr. Bloomberg’s worth $27 billion, to write a $500 million check and not have to dial for dollars….tends to be attractive to a lot of voters.”

Currently, however, there is a credibility gap for third party candidates, Nader said.

“So people are ready,” he continued. “But you have to convince them that the candidate has a chance to win. They’re not convinced the little third parties have that chance because of all the obstruction.”

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