Exactly what it says on the tin. Let's say Al Gore narrowly wins the Presidency in 2000. Yes, that's a major point of divergence with consequences all its own. But for the moment I am interested in a single facet of the aftermath of a successful Gore 2000 campaign. Namely, what happens to Ralph Nader? Since Gore won, he can't be viewed as a spoiler, or at least, he can't be viewed as a successful spoiler. Democrats could argue that Nader made Gore's victory more narrow than it needed to be, but I doubt you would see the same sort of animosity towards Nader on the part of Democrats in this timeline. In any event, Nader is not tarred as the man who cost Al Gore the Presidency. In general, how is Nader viewed without the 2000 stigma?
Ralph Nader in a Gore victory scenario
- Thread starter Glass Onion
- Start date
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
Gore wins Tennessee over Bush, giving him the election (FL goes for Bush). The Green Party are not seen as spoilers, and many on the left support them out of protest in 2004.
Tibbar
Banned
Gore was way more likely to win FL, NH, and OH than TN.
As for the original question, Nader is still very popular among many young liberals for his progressive activism, assuming that he doesn't spoil any Democratic elections in the future.
Thande
Donor
Could there perhaps be comparable Republican anger at Pat Buchanan and the Reform Party, the Libertarians, etc. same as there was Democratic anger at Nader in OTL? Although those tickets didn't get close to as many votes as Nader, there are states where Gore (OTL) won so narrowly over Bush that the votes for Buchanan, the Libertarians, the Constitution Party etc are more than Gore's margin of victory--such as New Mexico.
I mean, it's not like anyone got mad at the Libertarians for, say, Ford's defeat in 1976. For a third party candidate to really be blamed as a spoiler, they have to get some higher-than-average percentage of the vote.
Deleted member 40957
The Greens might do very well in 2004 (picking up a few state-level offices in, say, Vermont or Oregon) if a Patriot Act equivalent is passed and OTL's antiwar activists turn against the Democrats.
Cook
Banned
He’d just be viewed as a repetitive loser of no importance, a stone that dropped without leaving a ripple.
If they get more then 5% it will be considered a miracle. If you consider that doing well...