Political Reasons Why a Third Party Candidate Has Never Won Presidential Election

Third Party Candidates

In the United States, the Third parties face many hindrances and obstacles. Apparently, in every State, the Republican, and the Democrats candidates always get on the ballot, while the third party candidates require obtaining a lot of signatures on petitions so as to be listed on the ballot papers (Domhoff, 2005). Conversely, the federal government that has the power to make rules which govern the elections, as it comprises of the Republican and Democrats officials who contain a high spur and incentive to safeguard the duopoly. With that reason it is difficult for the third party candidate to win successfully presidential elections as they often face financial challenges since for an individual to qualify for federal funds, it has to receive five percent of votes from the previous election.

The Significant Responsibility of the Third Parties

Although the third party candidates don’t succeed in the polls, they have a potential to affect the United States politics in various ways that include:

Introduction of new ideas:

The Third parties have the capacity to suggest and recommend many government practices and policies. For instance, the Populist Party initiated ideas that affected various economic policies of the New Deal. Also, the Anti-Masonic party was the first party in the United States to use a conference to nominate its candidate.

Ability to Spoil the Elections

The third parties can take advantage of one party election through playing the spoiler. For instance, a third party obtains and draws enough votes away from a major party, which prevents that party from winning (Domhoff, 2005). In 2000, the pundit’s party argued that Ralph Nader bid to win the presidential election may have cost Al Gore the presidency through draining off votes in the major states like Florida.

Place Issues on the Agenda

The third parties have the capacity to set and force the key parties to deal with potentially different and troublesome issues. For instance, in 1992, the candidate of the Independent Party, Ross Perot, emphasized in his campaign about the budget deficit. However, George Bush and Bill Clinton did not talk about the issue.

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