For some in GOP, third-party dreams aren’t dead

Donald Trump spoke in Spokane, Wash., on Saturday.

By Victoria McGrane and Tracy Jan Globe Staff  May 10, 2016

WASHINGTON — Republicans have tried to derail Donald Trump by spending millions on TV ads pointing to his insensitive comments about women. They have attempted to defeat him in debates, called on him to release his tax returns, even ridiculed the size of his hands.
Nothing has worked.

 
Now they are trying the ultimate Hail Mary pass: A group of conservatives is discussing a third-party alternative, hoping for someone — anyone — to emerge to prevent Trump from becoming president. It is a move that is unheard-of in a party that normally rallies behind its presumptive nominee, and it illustrates just how desperate some Republicans are, nearly a week after Trump knocked his last challenger from the race.
The effort is seen by many party leaders — including House Speaker Paul Ryan — as a long shot that would hand the election to Democrats, but the anti-Trump group is rolling forward.
“To those Trumpsters who are criticizing us and saying we have a duty to vote for the Republican Party, I would say, at what cost?” said Deborah DeMoss Fonseca, spokeswoman for Conservatives Against Trump, the group mounting an independent candidacy. “Everyone associated with us has said we will not vote for Trump, we will not vote for Hillary, but we will vote. And we would like to have an alternative instead of having everyone just writing in their spouses or themselves.”