While many Republicans and Democrats may shudder at the idea of a strong third party candidate, I welcome one.

The last election with a major third party candidate was the 2000 election, where Ralph Nader was running as the nominee of the Green party. Other major third party candidates from past elections include Eugene Debbs (1912, Socialist), Robert La Follette (1924, Progressive), Strom Thurmond (1948, Dixiecrat), George Wallace, (1968, American Independent), John Anderson (1980, Independent) and Ross Perot (1996, Reform). Strong third party candidates are rare, and it is about time that a new one pops up.

Of all election years to have a strong third party candidate come up, this is possibly the best one. New polls show that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the likely nominees of the Republican and Democratic parties respectively, have the lowest favorability ratings of any two candidates in history. I, like most people, hate both of them with a burning passion. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t pick either of them to run our country. If it came down to it, I would pick Donald Trump, and only because of his views on abortion, minimum wage, and Obama Care. But just because I agree with him on those three issues doesn’t mean that he is a good candidate.

Both he and Clinton are corrupt, both he and Clinton are liars, and both he and Clinton have yet to make one intelligent statement during their respective campaigns. Of the two, Trump is the lesser of two evils, but that doesn’t mean that I want him as president. And that is why there needs to be a strong third party candidate.

Most of the opposition to a third party candidate comes from within the inner circles of the Republican party, with top officials saying that one could take votes away from Donald Trump and basically ensure Clinton the keys to White House. However, I don’t agree. A strong enough independent candidate will take away a great amount of votes from both Trump and Clinton, and will ensure that neither become president. The favorability ratings of both of the major party candidates are so low that that actually wouldn’t be too hard.

So, what kind of person should this candidate be? They should be honest, trustworthy, and should have an impressive record. They should have political experience, and should not rely on shock value (Trump) or proving their opponent wrong (Clinton) in order to win the election.

In my opinion, the person who fits all of those criteria is Mitt Romney. Romney is a prominent political figure whose viewpoints are well known. He has lots of experience, and is honest and trustworthy. He managed to take away a lot of votes from Obama in the 2012 election, and after another four years of disaster after disaster, most Americans do not want another Democrat. In fact, probably the only reason Clinton is higher up in the polls is because Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee. If Mitt Romney runs as an independent, he will win the votes of conservatives who are fed up with Trump, and independents who are fed up with Democrats who are only voting for Clinton because she isn’t Trump.

Romney has repeatedly said that he will not seek the presidency, but at this point, it is looking more and more like he could. Romney is looking more and more like he would be the best choice to run as an independent. Would he be my first choice? No. But one thing is for sure; he is a whole heck of a lot better than Trump and Clinton, and has the best chance of beating both of them.