The political cartoon by Nick Anderson depicts Ralph Nader standing at a podium addressing American society’s “throw away mentality.” Meanwhile a citizen in the background is casting her vote for the green party behind him. Ironically, the ballot drops into a waste basket, thus a wasted vote. We now realize that Nader is not talking about the environment, but addressing the issue of how the general public views votes for 3 rd party candidates. This cartoonist feels that we should reform our views on 3 rd party candidates and vote for who we think would make the best president, despite there chance of winning or not. In recent history no 3 rd party candidates have come anywhere close to getting a substantial number of votes in the presidential elections. The last time a minor party was able to win a presidential election, was with Abraham Lincoln, in 1860.
He was not truly campaigning under a minor party either; the Republican Party which he ran for had recently gained control of the congress and was becoming well established in the federal government. This is a key issue that 3 rd parties must understand before they consider putting up a candidate for president. The reason why 3 rd party candidates don’t win in presidential elections is not because they are unqualified; it’s because the electoral system that we have in place creates enormous obstacles for them. One obstacle is that 3 rd party candidates get unfair representation in political debates on television and another is that 3 rd party candidates have trouble mobilizing their voters to get to the polls. Despite what’s against 3 rd parties they still do manage to make some important contributions in our political system. One contribution is there ability to shift other party’s views along the political spectrum slightly.
The Essay on Negative Campaigning During Political Elections
Negative Campaigning During Political Elections Like most good ideas Television coverage of elections started out innocent and innovative. But in the years since its creation television has slowly eroded the foundation of our unique election process. It has turned a sacred tradition and reduced it to a pathetic sideshow. Inspiring election speeches have been whittled away to sound bites. The dream ...
Take the case of the 2000 and 2004 elections where Ralph Nader was running as the extreme liberal 3 rd party candidate in the election. Green party supporters would argue that by Nader running in the election, it forced the democrats to become slightly more liberal in there views to regain some of the would-be Nader voters.
