I was thinking this today after looking at the 4-way race polls.

Johnson and Stein are still polling at about 6-15% of voters polled when they are included as options. That is completely unrealistic compared to what actual turnout for them is going to look like.

Having regularly voted third party in the past, I expected to see their numbers dropping dramatically by now. That's the typical trend. As the election nears. those third party voters end up picking a side or sitting out.

A non-vote or third party vote is the protest vote if you loathe the rigged 2-party system.

Third party turnout, combining all third parties, since 1980. https://sli.mg/1ofEAR

The outliers are Perot (who had massive media presence and attention) and the hangover from the following presidential election (my first) when I, too, voted libertarian. After seeing what Perot did to the establishment, I assume there were still a large portion of people who thought we could make a difference.

That was my way of thinking, anyway, but Trump is the third party candidate now. He's just draped himself in the republican banner. That designation means nothing to your solid 40% republican/democratic voter base, but that concept is very appealing to typical third party voters or non-voters like myself.

The third party vote has always been about the rigged two party system for me, and I assume for a lot of other people.

That's why our man is going to make this happen.

It's time to come out of the closet, everyone.

You're god-damned right I'm voting for Trump, confused co-worker.

...and here's a bit more about third parties' shit performance on election day. http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/7/13194518/third-party-polls