http://img.timeinc.net/time/teach/glenspring2001/p12cartoon.gifThis lampoon of the 2000 election that came down to the winner of Florida between George Bush and Al Gore explains a lot about Ralph Nader, the third party candidate’s role in the election. Specifically concerning the recount in Florida, some voters argued that their confusion with the ballot had cased them to vote for Nader when they intended to vote for Gore. In a newscast clip from Florida in 2000 that we saw in the movie Recount, Ralph Nader actually said that he thought some votes he received in Florida were from individuals who had intended to vote Gore. So this picture shows that in some ways Gore had to appeal to Nader for help in trying to win Florida, which would have made him the President of the United States. So although Nader may have appeared to have less of an influence (hence the smaller boat), when it came down to Florida, he actually played a pivotal role in determining who would be elected President in 2000.
In considering Nader's effect on the election, historians and writers from 2000 argued that he had a more detrimental effect on Gore's campaign in comparison to the votes he took from the Bush campaign. According to the Washington Post "Nader received some 97,000 votes in Florida. According to the Washington Post, national exit polls showed that "47% of Nader voters would have gone for Gore if it had been a two-man race, and only 21% for Bush."
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