Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are dominating the headlines, but in many states, other names will be on the November ballot. Former G-O-P congressional aide Evan McMullin announced his candidacy last week. He joins third-party and independent candidates, including Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein with the Green Party. Political science professor John Clark at Western Michigan University explains the nation’s long two-party system tradition makes it nearly impossible for anyone other than major-party candidates to win the presidency.
The electoral system is based on plurality rule, with the win going to the candidate who gets the most votes. Clark says the result is a two-party system that would take a constitutional amendment to change. But he notes third-party and independent candidates do serve a purpose by shaping election outcomes in the short term, or major political parties in the long run.
This year, Clark expects minor parties to play the role of spoiler, and cites the best example as Ralph Nader’s Green Party campaign in 2000. While Nader didn’t receive a lot of votes, Clark says it was a close election, where even 200 votes in a state like Florida could have changed the outcome to swing in Al Gore’s favor instead of President George W. Bush.
A poll last week showed in a four-candidate race, Clinton was ahead of Trump, 44 to 38 percent; Libertarian Gary Johnson had 10 percent of the vote; and Green Party candidate Jill Stein got four percent.