"However, if there had been a conservative third party candidate who wasn't completely pathetic, and had managed to gather near 10% of the vote nationally (as I believe Perot did) "
Hey, you voted for That Giant Sucking Sound, not me. I liked Bush the Elder and was proud to vote for him twice. My vote in GA, where Bush won handily, meant nothing in this election.
Hey, you're a "principled" guy.
That's okay. The rest of us have you covered. Kind of the way the US does for Europe or Canda.