t go straight to the polls and vote for George Bush. Many of the votes that might have gone to AL Gore were cast to the Green Party candidate, Ralph Nader. The Green Party emerged as a strong third-party influence this election year. Historically, third parties play a beneficial role in the two-party dominant system. They raise awareness and lead to the development and implementation of new ideas and platforms. This year Ralph Nader gathered a large number of supporters based on his human rights, political reform and environmental platforms. Due to his strong environmental ideology, he served as the role of the "spoiler" for Al Gore. The "spoiler" refers to a third party candidate who gathers enough votes to either influence or alter the presidential election. Ralph Nader's success was damaging to Al Gore because it altered the number of popular votes that he needed to secure the electoral votes in "swing states." States such as California and Oregon serve as examples of the "spoiler" effect, in which the electoral vote could have been tilted to a conservative side by default between the Green and Democratic parties. The threat of Nader's voters prompted Al Gore to campaign heavily in swing states, to secure the electoral vote in those states. This campaigning may have ultimately cost him the election in states that were projected to vote Democratic. For example, Florida was expected to be a Gore state however; its votes have ended up determining the election. If Al Gore had secured the swing states without the threat of the "spoiler," Ralph Nader, then he could have focused his campaign efforts to places like Florida, or other states that could have given him those needed electoral votes. According to the CNN homepage, 3,835,594 votes were cast nation-wide for third party candidates and in Florida 96,873 votes were cast for Ralph Nader alone. "The election is at a difference of 300-900 votes between Gore and Bush" (CNN.com) and those ...
