A former CIA officer and congressional staffer on Monday launched a long-shot bid for president, a Republican billing himself as a conservative alternative to Donald Trump who disenchanted voters can rally around.
There is virtually no chance that the newly announced candidate, Evan McMullin, could win and only a slight chance he will even be able to get his name on the ballots of key states. McMullin has no name recognition across the country and was not even well known in the Capitol where until Monday he was the chief policy director for the organizational body of all Republicans in the House of Representatives.
But that will not stop some conservatives from pitching him as an option in the Nov. 8 election for those who never warmed to Trump and remain adamantly opposed to Democrat Hillary Clinton.