GOP Senator: "There will be a third party in this country"

Via Memeorandum, The Hill reports that Republican Senator John Thune is predicting the fast rise of a nationwide third party movement by 2012, with one caveat:

Thune, a potential presidential candidate in 2012, predicted that if Republicans win majorities in Congress but don't follow through on their promises, it could cause a third party built in the shape of the Tea Party movement to take off.

"I will say this: If we do not govern according to our principles and if we don't follow through on the things we say we're going to do, I think there will be a third party in this country," the fourth-ranking Senate Republican said on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" program, set for broadcast this weekend. 

Given the fact that the Republican Party, like its Democratic counterpart, has no principles other than the acquisition and consolidation of power in the hands of the ruling political class, and given their bipartisan dedication to the erosion of rights, liberties and the rule of law in the interests of expanding the global warfare and corporate welfare state, – on the basis of Thune's proposition, any rational observer would have to conclude that the rise of a third party movement is inevitable.