3rd parties can make a difference. If Nader hadn't run in FL in 2000 (or even in NH), George Bush would't have been elected. If Perot hadn't run, Clinton wouldn't have been elected. These people stood on their mighty principles and elected people they strongly opposed. The Wallace vote elected Richard Nixon.
An election is ALWAYS about the lesser of two evils.
You are correct. Parties can choose to run only in those states where their protest vote would not swing the election. Nader couldn't run in every state. He was asked not to run in the swing states. He refused.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoiler_effect
An election is ALWAYS about the lesser of two evils.
You are correct. Parties can choose to run only in those states where their protest vote would not swing the election. Nader couldn't run in every state. He was asked not to run in the swing states. He refused.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoiler_effect
I don't know. How many people even know that the Electoral College is winner-take-all-by-state?
But there were not nearly enough votes for the LP to shift WA into the GOP column even if every single one had switched to Romney.
I prefer the futile protest vote I cast to the one I could have cast. At least it was for someone I actually agreed with. If I'm going to compromise my principles by settling for the lesser evil, I expect a reasonable shot at victory in exchange.
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