Voters Hesitate Over Third-Party Candidates

Nov. 6, 2006 — -- In a state where all but three governors since the 1950s have been indicted -- and the current governor is in step to continue that tradition -- you might expect voters to find a third-party candidate to be a viable option.

But Illinois Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney -- though commanding up to 14 percent of the vote in some polls -- is still a long shot to reach office.

In October, Antonin "Tony" Rezko, a top adviser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, was indicted on charges of fraud. Judy Baar Topinka, the Republican challenger, has been linked to former Gov. George Ryan, who is scheduled to begin a 6½-year prison sentence on Jan. 4.

With the charges of corruption swirling around each campaign, neither candidate has been able to get a majority of the vote. Yet voters hesitate to stray from the major two parties.

One of the reasons is that many people still regard a vote for a third-party candidate as a throwaway vote. This presents a Catch-22 for Whitney and other third-party candidates.

"The more people believe I can win, the more likely they will quit thinking about choosing the lesser of two evils and actually consider voting for what they really want," said Whitney.

But winning in a first-past-the-post or winner-takes-all system may not be altogether possible -- especially considering the financial disadvantage that third-party candidates face.

H. Ross Perot had the greatest success as a third-party candidate in recent history. His 1992 presidential campaign earned him 19 percent of the popular vote. But all that success didn't come without a cost. The billionaire businessman spent an estimated $65 million of his own money on his campaign only to finish behind Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush.

Green Party candidates face an even tougher road. It is a practice for Green Party candidates not to accept corporate campaign contributions, on which Democratic and Republican candidates generally thrive. For example, Blagojevich has raised more than $12 million, and Topinka around $4 million, while Whitney has raised only in the tens of thousands.

In 2000, Ralph Nader ran as a Green Party candidate for president only to garner less than 3 percent of the popular vote. His campaign was able to raise only a few million dollars -- a fraction compared with the funds raised by candidates George Bush and Al Gore.

The smaller campaign funds mean fewer television and radio ads -- and ultimately less name recognition -- a killer in major races.

But Peter Nardulli, director of the Center for Democratic Governance at the University of Illinois, said that greater funds alone would not result in a different outcome for third- party candidates.

"The only thing that would make a difference is a switch to proportional representation," he said.

A proportional representation system would take away the spoiler factor -- the belief that a vote for a candidate without a chance to win only takes votes away from a candidate with a chance. Such as the claim that votes for Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the 2000 election.

It would also give voters a variety of choices other than just right and left.

"One very popular sentiment that's out there," said Whitney, "is 'I sure wish we had a real alternative to Democrats and Republicans.' "We throw the bums out one year and then we have to throw the other bums out the next election."

But according to Nardulli, more likely than a new electoral system is what has happened throughout history. When any third-party gains enough support, its most popular ideas and platforms are absorbed by one of the two major parties.

Nardulli believes this is just as effective and as important as actually putting a third-party candidate in office.

"If an idea is important enough, like the anti-slavery parties of the 19th century, a major party will absorb it and put it to use," he said.

As for voters who still feel as though there is no good option, Nardulli urges them not to protest by not voting but to become involved at the primary level to ensure that quality candidates run.

And Whitney may not need to take over as governor to consider his campaign a success. If he is able to take 5 percent of the vote on Election Day --the sum needed to gain position as an established party and an easier path to the 2008 ballot -- it would certainly be a huge victory for the Green Party in Illinois.