Politics 2012: No Third Option

Ross Perot at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Something's missing from this year's presidential election.  For the first time since 1988, there is no major third party candidate to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican nominees Mitt Romney.

You might remember Ross Perot, who used his millions to make two runs at the White House in 1992 and '96.  Or Ralph Nader, whom the Democrats will never forgive for helping the Supreme Court hand the Presidency to George W. Bush in 2000 (Nader also ran in 2004 and '08).

This would have been a good year for a third party candidate.  People who voted for Obama in 2008 have been disappointed in the way he's turned out.  Conservatives aren't too happy with Romney, either.  In a poll taken by USA Today and Gallup in 12 swing states, the President holds a narrow lead over Romney 47 to 44 percent.  However, when asked the classic political question "are you better off now than you were four years ago?", 56 percent of respondents said they were not.

Instead, it's been all talk and little action.  Donald Trump made noises about running, but ultimately decided to back Romney.  Ron Paul has his fans, but his "libertarian" stance has ticked off real Libertarians.  All we have thus far is Roseanne Barr running on the Peace and Freedom ticket.

There are several reasons why third-party candidates are out of favor right now.  First, campaigns have gotten too expensive for anyone but a Republican or a Democrat to even attempt, unless you are someone like Perot.  You need to start raising money the moment the election's over, or so it seems.  Second, the major parties have successfully convinced the public that a vote for a third-party candidate all but assures that the wrong person will get into the White House.  Third, the way our political system is currently structured, most third parties tend to be short-lived.  Finally, since third parties are basically offshoots of the Republicans or the Democrats, are their candidates really saying anything different?

So for those of you wishing there was an alternative to Obama or Romney, there are plenty of candidates from smaller parties out there who would love to have your vote.   Just don't get the idea that they're anywhere near electable.