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He isn't. As you admit yourself, the man isn't particularly well-known outside of intellectual circles, and even within them he's revered not so much for his specific politics but for his ability to communicate his opinions in a way that's interesting and engaging, not just about politics but about anything from religion to jazz. The great mass of left-leaning minorities aren't the kind of people who are going to listen to Dr. West engage in a 2-hour long discussion with Andrew Sullivan; like the great mass of people in general, they're the kind who are likely to not pay much attention to specific politics at all but know they always vote for their party, and know that third parties don't have a chance.
Maybe, but only if they're running in an established primary. Sanders was. Nader wasn't, but he was already famous before he ran for president (he appeared on Sesame Street, of all things, in 1988, singing the classic "A Consumer Advocate Is a Person in Your Neighborhood). Perot was the exception, but he wasn't so much an inspiring speaker as he was a policy wonk who had a lot of charts and graphs and who had the novel strategy of running campaign infomercials on leased-access channels. Trying to get a YouTube clip to go viral isn't exactly a novel strategy. Perot was also unique in that he appealed about equally to Democrats as to Republicans, while it's hard to see many Republicans voting for West. I don't think a few clips of good oratory will be enough to catapult a third-party bid to relevance.
Given that West has no chance, the final two questions are moot.
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