Before I start this, I want to correct a piece of errata in my earlier post. I mixed up an important fact without the stats in front of me. It was Norman Thomas, not Debs who ran against FDR in 1932, but I still feel his showing influenced the Democratic party's platform.
Anyway, in defense of third party support, I decided to dig back through presidential elections and come up with some 3rd party numbers to show that third parties can and do make a difference. The missing election years are years when the 3rd party was either a nonfactor, or there isn't enough data available to make a fair historical analysis:
*In 2002, George W. Bush defeated AL Gore, with Ralph Nader posting 2.2% of the popular vote.
*In 1996, Bill Clinton defeated Bob Dole, with Ross Perot posting 8.4% of the vote, and 1.8% of the vote going to "other".
*In 1992, Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, with Ross Perot posting 18.9% of the vote, and 0.6% of the vote going to "other".
*In 1980, Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter, with John Anderson posting 6.6% of the vote, Ed Clark posting 1.1% of the vote, and 0.6% of the vote going to "other".
*In 1968, Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey. George Wallace secured 12.9% of the vote, with 1.3% going to "other".
*in 1960, John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in one of the closest elections ever. This makes Henry Bird's .2% and the .6% that went to other quite potentially the deciding votes that gave Kennedy the election.
*In 1948, Truman defeated Dewey. Strom Thurmond won 2.4% of the vote, Henry Wallace won 2.4% of the vote, while .6% voted for "other".
*In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover, Norman Thomas won 2.2% of the vote, while "other" secured .7% of the vote.
*In 1924, Calvin Coolidge defeated John W. Davis. Robert LaFollette won 16.6% of the vote; with .5% going to "other".
*In 1920, Warren Harding defeated James Middleton Cox. Eugene Debs won 3.4% of the vote; 1.8% committed to "other".
*In 1912, Woodrow Wilson defeated William Howard Taft. Theodore Roosevelt won 27.6% of the vote, more than Taft. Eugene Debs won 6.0% of the vote, Eugene Chafin won 1.4% of the vote, while "other" won 0.2% of the vote.
*In 1908, William Howard Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan. Eugene Debs won 2.8% of the vote, Eugene Chaflin won 1.7%, "other" won 0.8%
*In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt defeated Alan Parker. Eugene Debs won 3.0% of the vote, Silas Comfort Swallow won 1.9%, and "other" won 1.1%.
*In 1892, Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison. James Baird Weaver garnered 8.6% of the vote, John Bidwell gained 2.2%, "other" gained 0.2%.
*in 1888, Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland. Clinton Bowen Fisk won 2.2% of the vote, while Alson Jennes Streeter garnered 1.3%.
*In 1884, Grover Cleveland defeated James Gillespie Blane. Benjamin Franklin Butler won 1.7% of the vote, John Pierce St. John won 1.5%
*In 1880, James Garfield defeated Winfield Scott Hancock (by 0.1%). James Baird Weaver won 3.3% of the vote, while "other" walked away with 0.1%.
*In 1860, third party candidate Abraham Lincoln won the presidency with 39.9% of the vote over John C. Breckenridge (18.1%), John Bell (12.6%), and Stephen Douglas (29.4%).
*In 1856, James Buchanan defeated John C. Fremont, wih Millard Fillmore capturing 21.6% of the vote.
*In 1852, Franklin Pierce defeated Winfield Scott, with John Parker Hale (Free Soil Party) capturing 10.1% of the vote.
*In 1848, Zachary Taylor defeated Lewis Cass, with Martin van Buren (Free Soil) capturing 10.1% of the vote, and Gerrit Smith capturing 7.1% of the vote.
*Analysis: If you support a third party unapologetically, do not consider your vote a wasted vote. Although a third party candidate has only obtained the presidency once in history (Lincoln), history shows a number of times when third parties may have helped influence the election and certainly helped reshape the platforms of the major parties.
respectfully submitted,
Gideon MacLeish