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Forums - General - Performance of third-party candidates

Jackson50 on 05 November 2008

Despite the perception that there were only two candidates running for president, there were a few notable third-party candidates. While certain states are still counting ballots, the final vote count should not significantly change.

Ralph Nader, and independent candidate, won 0.5% of the popular vote. The three states he performed best in were North Dakota, Maine, and Alaska.

Bob Barr, the Libertarian nominee, won 0.4% of the popular vote. The three states he performed best in were Indiana and a three-way tie between Georgia, Texas, and Utah. In an interesting side note, Barr's support in Indiana may have contributed to McCain's narrow defeat in the state.

Ron Paul, who was a candidate for the Republican nomination, received 2.2% of the vote in Montana and 0.5% of the vote in Louisiana.




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SnesTea on 05 November 2008

Ron Paul wasn't on the Michigan ballot :(



akuma587 on 05 November 2008

Wouldn't it be nice if we actually had a viable libertarian or green party...it would definitely make politics more interesting.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

Jackson50 on 05 November 2008

Ralph Nader has an interesting proposition to allow for third-party participation on national debates. That would certainly add some flavor to our political process.



akuma587 on 05 November 2008
Jackson50 said:
Ralph Nader has an interesting proposition to allow for third-party participation on national debates. That would certainly add some flavor to our political process.

After Rush Limbaugh happened, the Democrats and Republicans made it harder for a third-party to make it into the debates.

 



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

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Jackson50 on 05 November 2008

Yeah, the threshold was previously 10% support in five nationally recognized polls. They later changed the threshold to 15%. Nader's proposal was not based on poll support but on the number of ballots a candidate was on. He postulated that if a candidate was on enough ballots to have a reasonable chance to win the election, then the candidate should be allowed to participate in the debates.