VOA常速英语2007-Third Party Presidential Candidates Can Affect E

By Jeffrey Young
Washington
05 October 2007
 

While political parties in the United States other than the Democratic and Republican have fielded presidential candidates for years, they have never won the White House. VOA's Jeffrey Young explores how these third party candidates have nonetheless influenced the outcome of elections.

In 1992, Democratic Party presidential candidate Bill Clinton defeated the incumbent¹ Republican President George H.W. Bush, the father of President George W. Bush, by nearly six million votes. But a so-called third party candidate, Ross Perot, received almost 20 million votes.  Many political observers say the votes cast for Perot clearly affected² the outcome of the contest between Mr. Bush and Mr.Clinton.

The United States has two major political parties, the Democratic and the Republican. But there are others, such as the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Socialist³ Party.  These and other third parties have never succeeded in winning the White House.  The reason for that is the structure of the Electoral College that actually selects the president.

Benjamin Ginsberg at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C. says, "We don't actually have one national election.  We have 50 statewide [presidential] elections that are held on the same day.  And in each state, Electoral College votes are allocated⁴, usually to the candidate that wins the most votes in that state."

Ralph Nader ran under the Green Party banner in 1996 and 2000 and also ran unaffiliated in 2004. He says the problem for third parties goes beyond the Electoral College. "The system does not encourage, because it doesn't have proportional representation [and] doesn't have instant-runoff voting. It does not encourage multi-party development.

While third party candidates may not win, they have been accused of being so-called spoilers.  That is how some pundits⁵ view Ralph Nader's 2000 White House bid.

The outcome of the 2000 presidential election ultimately hinged on the vote count in the southeastern state of Florida.  Republican George W. Bush won the state over his Democratic Party rival, Al Gore⁶, by a margin⁷ of only 537 votes.  Mr. Bush's Florida victory enabled him to win the White House in the Electoral College even though Gore got more votes nationally.  Nader received more than 97,000 votes in Florida, sparking debates ever since as to what the outcome in Florida would have been if he were not on the ballot⁸.

Some political observers say there is another reason why parties other than the Democratic and Republican do not win the White House and usually do not get seats in Congress.  Candice Nelson at American University in Washington, D.C. explains. "Their issues -- if they have resonance⁹, if the American people are interested in them -- can get absorbed by one of the two major parties, which is why third parties don't have much staying power."

The next segment of "How America Elects" will focus on campaign fundraising, and the debate over whether the White House race should be entirely¹⁰ publicly financed.

1 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

4 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

5 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

6 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

7 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。