Remember: Don't vote for Nader unless you intend to vote for Bush

[jrydberg]

I think the fundamental problem with assertions that Nader, Perot or any other third party candidate handed the election to another party is that it is likely that Nader voters, for example, would have stayed home instead of voting for Gore. They were clearly very dissatisfied with Gore just as Perot voters were clearly very dissatisfied with Bush. Switching their vote is not the only likely outcome -- in fact, probably not the most likely outcome -- of removing the third party option.

 

[wvrevy]

Originally posted by jrydberg
I think the fundamental problem with assertions that Nader, Perot or any other third party candidate handed the election to another party is that it is likely that Nader voters, for example, would have stayed home instead of voting for Gore. They were clearly very dissatisfied with Gore just as Perot voters were clearly very dissatisfied with Bush. Switching their vote is not the only likely outcome -- in fact, probably not the most likely outcome -- of removing the third party option.

This is a good point. Still, it can't really be argued that if, say, 60% of Naders Florida voters had stayed home, and of the remaining 40% Gore had gotten just a slight majority (52% to 48%), we'd have a different president right now.

That said, I would MUCH rather have a true three party system...But until BOTH sides stop beating the drum from the extreme flank, it will never happen. If a moderate gets attacked in an election, they tend to run to that extreme, 'cause that's where the money is on both sides. It's just not conducive to a true three way split. Both parties simply have too much power.

That said, I agree with the original poster. This isn't fantasyland, and your vote CAN count. But if you throw it away on Nader, that's exactly what you'll be doing -- throwing it away. You might as well stay home, as your vote in the presidential election will be wasted.

 

[jrydberg]

Agreed, wvrevy... it wouldn't have taken much at all. There's just a tendency to look at the numbers Nader drew and to assign most of those to Gore when I think the truth is a bit more complicated than that. Certainly it hurt Gore more than it hurt Bush though.