I strongly disagree with the authors' suggestion that we need a third party candidate to lead us toward the promised land (or back to our gloried past?  I'm not sure which metaphor works best here...) Rather, it seems increasingly clear that presidents are not nearly as powerful as we often believe them to be (or accuse them of, depending on where you stand).  Congress has the power to move us forward or stall progress completely (and so very much of what they do is dictated by campaign financing).  Therefore a third party president is likely to be very unpopular and thwarted by congressional opposition and inaction.