Richard writes:

Your blog post says you can’t believe it isn’t too late for conservatives to launch an independent campaign for president.

John Anderson didn’t start petitioning as an independent until April 24, 1980, and he got on in all states.  And the laws are better now than they were in 1980.

Robert La Follette didn’t start until July 4, 1924, and he got on in all states except Louisiana.  And the Louisiana problem was not related to the deadline.

Strom Thurmond didn’t decide to run as the Dixiecrat presidential candidate until mid-July 1948, after the Dem national convention put a civil rights plank in the platform.  And he got on the ballot in all the southern states, which is all he cared about.

Ross  Perot didn’t start in 1992 until mid-March and he got on in all ballots.

In 2000, the US State Department formally condemned Azerbaijan’s new ballot access law, which said a new party had to register at least six months before the election in order to participate.

Currently, all state deadlines are in June, July, August, and September, except Texas is in May.  Four states are in June, but their deadlines are suspect under Anderson v Celebrezze.  Five states have had June deadlines invalidated for being too early:  Nevada, Arizona, South Dakota, Kansas, and Alaska.  The Arizona decision is Nader v Brewer, a 9th circuit reported opinion.

Also the conservatives might work with the Constitution Party, which is already on the ballot in 16 states.