Once they decided to skip the primary and started getting contributions to a Biden/Harris campaign, it became virtually impossible to select anyone else once Biden dropped out.

Right, and that was the first mistake, they should have held the primary.

Are you implying there was a qualified third party candidate? Is this an oxymoron?

I thought Chase Oliver was pretty decent. I especially like his immigration policies, I like that he's pretty young, and he seems to tick off both parties equally, so hopefully both parties would have to actually work together to get something he can sign. I highly doubt he'd get any of his policies done (except maybe ending tariffs, which would help a bit w/ prices), so the main benefit of having a third party in the White House is as a moderator between the two parties.

He had absolutely no chance to win, especially since his own party largely turned on him (I guess he wasn't conservative enough or whatever), but I felt he was a decent protest vote.