ELECTION SPOILERS? The Green Party nominated Cynthia McKinney for president on Saturday in Chicago. She joins independent Ralph Nader and Libertarian Bob Barr as a third-party candidate, challenging John McCain and Barack Obama who represent the two major political parties.

None of the third party candidates expects to win—or even come close. So why are they bothering to run? By getting on ballots in as many states as possible, they hope to influence national policies by drawing attention to their platforms. Currently, third-party candidates wield power by possibly taking votes from major party candidates, which could alter the predominantly two-party political system in the United States.

Green Party Cynthia McKinney Runs ‘Power to the People' Campaign

When she was a Democrat, Cynthia McKinney was the first black woman elected to Congress from Georgia. She represented a suburb of Atlanta, and served six terms in the House of Representatives.

One of her last acts in office was to introduce a bill to impeach President Bush for lying to the people. But she lost her last bid for re-election after allegedly punching a U.S. Capitol police officer in the chest when he grabbed her for passing through a security check without stopping.

She kicked off her bid for presidency last fall. Her campaign slogan, "Power to the People," is reminiscent of slogans used during the 1960s by those speaking out against the "Establishment," as well as the Black Panthers' slogan, "All Power to the People."

Along with other Green Party issues, McKinney is running on the following platform:

• War—end U.S. troop involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan

• Peace—create a Department of Peace
• Reparations—pay reparations to African American descendants of slaves

Independent Ralph Nader Runs for Fifth Time

When Al Gore ran against George Bush in 2000, nearly 3% of voters chose to cast their ballots for Green Party Ralph Nader. Nader earned more than any other third-party candidate that election, which some say cost Gore the election.

It's called the "spoiler effect" or "Nader effect" when voters vote for a minority party candidate similar to them, and in doing so inadvertently help the candidate most dissimilar to them win. This can happen in close elections.

Nader voters may not have anticipated this spoiler effect. However, exit polls showed Republicans, independents, Democrats and others voted for Nader. In other words, many of them wouldn't have voted for Gore anyway. The Green Party also points out that the Supreme Court played a major role in deciding the candidates' fate in the 2000 election.

This year, Nader is running his fifth presidential campaign—this time as an independent. On the ballot in 12 states, he hopes to reach 45 by September.

He agrees with the Greens and Libertarians on many issues (see sidebar). Here's his position on some of them:

• Health insurance—cover all Americans with a single-payer health insurance system
• Power—discontinue nuclear power and switch to solar instead
• Military—cut the military's budget
• Bush—impeach the president
• Affirmative action—reinstate affirmative action for people of color and women
• Patriot Act—repeal the act and restore privacy rights
• Iraq—withdraw from Iraq over six months

Libertarian Bob Barr Opposes Iraq War, Expects to Take Votes from McCain

The Libertarian Party is running Bob Barr, previously a Republican congressman for Georgia.

He began questioning the Republican Party when it curtailed individual civil liberties in response to Sept. 11, eventually leaving the party and joining the Libertarians in 2006.

Barr expects the nation's overwhelming opposition to the Iraq war will bring him votes that would otherwise go to McCain. Some analysts say he might be able to pull Georgia, Montana and Alaska away from McCain, handing those states to Obama.

Other analysts say that for Obama to win those three, he'll have to be so far ahead that Barr's contribution wouldn't amount to much either way.

Most recently, Barr criticized Congress for...

• considering a housing bill to curtail foreclosures
• talking about bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
• voting for the FISA Amendments

"Congress is creating a bail-out culture," Barr said, "in which people assume that the government will cover their bad decisions. Washington bailed out the savings and loans. It bailed out big banks that made bad loans to Third World countries. It is preparing to bail-out irresponsible home-owners, mortgage lenders, and investors." (Barr '08, 7/11/08)

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Question for Readers:

Do you think we'll see third-party candidates play a major role in swinging this year's presidential election?