percent favored voting by mail. Only 38 percent supported the idea of election day voter registration.Candidates also backed a range of other changes. More than 90 percent of all federal and state candidates advocated more media coverage of issues, 86 percent desired more candidate debates, 69 percent wanted full and instant disclosure of all finances, 66 percent voiced support for giving candidates free media time or postage, 59 percent advocated outlawing "soft money," 46 percent favored limiting interest group activity, and 44 percent advocated public funding of campaigns. Less than 33 percent supported lowering, raising, or removing the limits on campaign contributions. There were only a few areas where the two sets of candidates were in disagreement. More non-major party candidates (95 percent) were in favor of more candidate debates than major party aspirants (84 percent). Non-major party candidates were almost twice as likely to advocate removal of all contribution limits - a change that may enable them to overcome the small size of their donor pool by raising larger contributions from their backers.Peripheral Players, But...Third party and Independent candidates tend to be peripheral players in elections because the political environment works to their disadvantage. They usually wage underfinanced campaigns with little support among established politicos.Minor party candidates express greater skepticism about voters, are somewhat more willing to use unflattering information about an opponent and are more likely to assert that campaign spending, the news media and incumbency advantages are major determinants of election outcomes. They are also more likely to back more far-reaching campaign law changes, including eliminating ceilings on campaign contributions.Third party and independent candidates make important contributions to American politics: They raise policy issues that the major parties have ignored, provide outlets for v...
