While President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry race
neck-and-neck toward Tuesday’s election, the story of third
party candidates has been a struggle to get onto state ballots and
to convince voters that a ballot cast for them is not a wasted
vote.

“Third parties are responsible for systemic change in this
country and always have been,” Green Party candidate David
Cobb said during a rally at the University last month, emphasizing
third parties’ contributions to abolishing slavery and
promoting women’s suffrage.

 

Ralph Nader

This year Ralph Nader, the most successful third-party candidate
in the 2000 election, broke off from the Green Party and is running
as an independent candidate in some states, such as Michigan, and
under the Reform Party on other ballots.

Nader emphasizes the general need to shift power from
corporations and the wealthy to small taxpayers. He proposes
eliminating corporate tax subsidies and tax cuts for the wealthy.
He is also calling for a shift in federal budget priorities from
defense spending to improving education, public works and pollution
controls.

“When you have half of the total federal budget operating
expenditures going to the military ... you’re going to be
starving the education sector,” Nader said.

Nader also promises to “stop the illegal Iraq
occupation” by immediately pulling U.S. soldiers out of
Iraq.

Nader, who has teamed up with Vice Presidential candidate Peter
Camejo, also includes among his major issues the implementation of
universal health care—offering people the freedom to choose
their doctors and hospitals under Medicare—and replacing the
health insurance industry.

Although Nader’s critics claim he will siphon votes away
from Kerry on election day, Nader claims that he is more effective
than Kerry at exposing Bush’s weaknesses because the
Democratic nominee is too tied down by corporate lobbyists.
“He surrounds himself with some of the worst corporate
lobbyists,” he said.

In the 2000 election, running under the Green Party, Nader
brought in 2.7 percent of the vote.

 

The Libertarian Party

Libertarians seek to keep the Republicans out of the bedroom and
the Democrats out of the wallet.

The Libertarian vision of government is as hands-off as
possible. Presidential candidate Michael Badnarik and running mate
Richard Campagna maintain that citizens should have the right to
use all manner of substances, bear any arms and follow any sexual
lifestyle, as long as such activities do not violate the rights of
other citizens.

The party platform stresses complete government deregulation of
the economy and financial markets, calling for the government to
stop subsidizing uncompetitive industries, end tariffs which they
believe hurt the general welfare of consumers and balance the
federal budget by cutting spending instead of tax increases.

Libertarians also believe in the privatization of many public
sectors, including energy, education, health care, mass transit and
public utility systems. The Libertarians believe private owners
would work harder to make a profit than inefficient
bureaucrats.

Additionally, the party is committed to eliminating all foreign
aid and believes the activity of the United States armed forces
should be limited to the protection of its borders.

 

The Green Party

The Green Party, a self-proclaimed grassroots political movement
has yet to achieve success similar to its European counterparts,
but the party gained national attention by running Ralph Nader on
its presidential ticket in 2000.

This year’s Green Party candidates, Cobb and running mate
Pat LaMarche, are deeply committed to protecting the environment.
They advocate a sustainable society by preserving natural
resources, and stressing conservation instead of the consumption of
raw materials, for the good of future generations.

They also propose eliminating dependence on nuclear power and
oil by shifting to alternative sources of energy such as solar and
wind power.

The Green Party also promotes organic agriculture systems which
replenish topsoil instead of eroding it.

The party is committed to withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq
immediately and providing free, universal health care.

 

Other parties

The U.S. Taxpayers party is running presidential candidate
Michael Anthony Peroutka with running mate Chuck Baldwin. The
Natural Law Party is on the ballot with presidential candidate
Walter Brown and running mate Mary Alice Herbert.