By RYAN SENECAL
Staff Writer
This election season has been tough. Many Americans do not like Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump and will vote third party or for the “lesser of two evils.”
There is now a third party candidate who has a chance of winning a state, something that has not been done by a third party candidate since 1968.
Evan McMullin is the Independent candidate for President. McMullin has had little impact on the race since he officially declared, but a recent poll in Utah shows him polling in a close third to Trump and Clinton.
McMullin is 40 years old. According to his campaign website, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in International Law and Diplomacy from Brigham Young University and Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
He’s worked around the world as a CIA operative and later worked for Goldman Sachs. In 2013, he went to Washington D.C. and was a senior advisor in the House Committee Foreign Affairs and later became the chief policy director for the House Republican conference.
Unlike Trump, McMullin is a true conservative. He is pro-life and pro-free trade. Trump claims he’s pro-life but he wants to punish women for having an abortion. This is not a pro-life view.
Unlike most conservatives, McMullin believes that the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage should stay in place. He does not agree with gay marriage as he is very religious but he recognizes that it’s accepted in our society and wants to talk about other issues.
McMullin wants to get rid of the Common Core learning standards and reform higher education. His plan is to make sure people get degrees that lead to jobs. Also, he would require colleges and universities to provide graduation rates to perspective students so that they know what to expect from the institution.
I know his chances of winning are very slim. He only declared his candidacy in August of this year. I realize that the chances of Clinton landsliding Trump in the Electoral College are also very real.
If McMullin wins a state and the election is close, it could throw the race in the House of Representatives. If Clinton wins and McMullin has a big following that votes for him in the General Election, he should run for the Republican nomination in 2020.
It’s too bad he did not run for the Republican nomination in 2016 as I think he would have had a great impact on the primary. I hope conservative Republicans who are not satisfied with the race as it stands will see hope in McMullin.
I believe that he is becoming a rising star in the conservative movement. It’s nearly impossible to list all of his solutions to the problems facing this nation, so if you want to learn more about him, I encourage you to visit www.evanmccmullin.com.
It is my hope that McMullin can rise from nowhere and be a great candidate for future election. He’s young, smart, and full of new ideas that will help America in our future.
