ABCnews
Eh, the reform party nearly got it. It can be easier to get local elections after achieving national legitimacy.
They made no inroads after Hilary vs Trump. They aren’t going to see any better opportunity for national legitimacy, and it wasn’t enough to make a significant difference. If they want to succeed, they have to start local.
The Reform party had national legitimacy in the 90s, but not much because they didn’t win the presidential elections. Then they dissolved.
They need to play the long game. Even if by some miracle they won the presidency, they would have no senators or house representatives. Democrats and Republicans would likely not cooperate. It would be ironic. Greens aren’t willing to form a coalition with Democrats despite having so many commonalities, but they’d need to convince Democrats to do so with them if they didn’t want to instantly be a lame duck president.
Tell that to the Tea Party, the last significant change in voting dynamics we’ve had as a nation, that won almost entirely at the local level and got fucking destroyed on the national stage.
The Tea Party is what eventually led to the populist surge that backed Trump.
The Tea party movement (which was within the Republican party) was born out of the Reform party and their national fame.
The Tea Party was born from us electing a black guy who wanted to pass universal health care.