Even with all the insane antics Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has pulled this campaign season (see the latest here) the 2016 presidential race has stayed close throughout.
Third Party Power
There are many who are dissatisfied with both presidential candidates and are considering voting for a third party candidate or staying away from the voting stations all together. Third party candidates can be very powerful. We’ve seen it before.
As it stands right now, Jill Stein the Green Party nominee, has polled with 2.4 percent and Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party has polled at 7 percent after receiving 0.99 percent in the last election.
Remember Election 2000?
For those of us old enough to remember and appreciate the extremely tight race during the 2000 presidential bid, we know how wrong things can go and fast.
In 2000, then Governor George W. Bush (R-TX) and Vice President Al Gore (D) faced off. In the end Bush won, but not without tremendous controversy surrounding the victory.
In particular, was the battle state of Florida. It was home to George W’s brother and then governor, Jeb Bush. Bush beat Gore in Florida by just 537 votes.
Third party candidate for the Green Party at that time was Ralph Nader. Nader had some great ideas and a lot of support, but not nearly enough to win.
Many who voted for Nader in 2000 still regret that decision today.
A Different World
Those votes for Nader would’ve almost certainly gone to Gore if Nader had not run. Which in turn means Gore could have clinched the presidency and been in office during 9/11. This could be a much different world.
Kurt Ehrenberg, 58, who served as Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) New Hampshire political director, but now backs Clinton, had this to say about his 2000 decision:
“Those of us who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, most of us, if we had to do it over again, would not do it. You feel, in some small way, responsible for all this stuff that George W. Bush was able to do because he was elected president ― even though it was the closest race in my lifetime and there’s still some question as to whether, if all the votes had been counted, Bush would’ve won.”
With respect to both Stein and Johnson, we can’t have that happen again. If anyone thought George W. Bush was bad, Trump would be an absolute catastrophe. Make sure you’re at the polls Nov. 8 out and vote blue!
Featured image from Don LaVange on Flickr available under a CC Attribution-ShareAlike license.