From the Vault: Is there room for a third-party candidate?

Now that Donald Trump is the last Republican standing in a 17-candidate field and the party's presumptive nominee, some in the GOP establishment are talking about the possibility of an independent candidate mounting a campaign to carry the conservative message. 2012 nominee Mitt Romney is among the high-profile Republicans pushing such a run. But the deadline to make a decision for a serious run is coming up quickly. In fact, some state filing deadlines to be on the ballot have already passed.

Is there even room for a third-party candidate?

In March 1996, the Washington Week panel discussed the potential of Ross Perot making a second independent run for the White House. Perot, who received 19 percent of the popular vote during his 1992 campaign, was seen as an outsider and anti-incumbent candidate who could run an unconventional campaign because of his multi-billion dollar fortune. "He doesn't need the press in some ways because he can create his own audience," U.S. News' Steve Roberts remarked.

Perot went on to capture the Reform Party nomination and won just over eight percent of the popular vote in the general election, but he failed win a single state or electoral vote. His support was less than half of what he received in the 1992 presidential election.