According to the bar graph, who had the most success qualifying for state ballots in 2004?
1.Since the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, two parties have dominated American politics: the Democrats and the Republicans. Nevertheless, candidates have frequently tried to beat the odds. These independent and third-party candidates have never managed to win a seat in the White House, but some have played a key role in choosing the man who did.
2.One of the most successful third-party candidates was Theodore Roosevelt. Leaving the White House in 1909, he turned the presidential reins over to his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft. However, after he became upset with Taft’s policies, Roosevelt left the Republican Party to form his own, the Progressive (or Bull Moose) Party. In the 1912 election, Theodore Roosevelt joined William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson in the race to become president. Roosevelt finished second, ahead of Taft. However, because he and Taft ended up splitting Republican votes, the presidency went to Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat.
3.Another third-party candidate had a strong influence on the outcome of a more recent election. In 2000, Ralph Nader, the candidate for the Green Party, received nearly three million votes. Some people believe Nader’s campaign only served to divert votes that would have gone to Al Gore, the Democratic candidate. Gore ended up losing to George W. Bush, the Republican candidate, in one of the closest presidential races in history.
4.When Nader ran again in 2004, he did not have quite the same impact. He was unable to get onto the ballot in every state and received less than 1 percent of the popular vote.
5.The efforts of third parties to win the presidency are hindered by a lack of experience, funding, and attention from the media. However, they sometimes have more luck at the local and state level. For example, Congressman Bernard Sanders has been elected to the U. S. House of Representatives eight times by the people of Vermont, despite the fact that he does not belong to one of the two major parties.