Badnarik vs. Nader

How well do you know the name of presidential candidate Ralph Nader? How often did you see him mentioned in the news? On poll results?

How well do you know the name of presidential candidate Michael Badnarik? How often did you see him mentioned in the news? On poll results?

I'd never heard of Badnarik, or even the party he represented, the Libertarians, until just a few months ago. Since then, I watched the news and every other election-oriented information source for mention of him, and as contrast, Nader too.

I could count the number of Badnarik mentions on one hand. Nader of course, got lots of coverage. No where near as much as Bush and Kerry, of course, but the news had video of him on many occasions, and never even a photo of Badnark as far as I saw. Except for C-SPAN of course.

And yet...

Nader was on the ballot in 33 states.
Badnarik was on the ballot in 48 states (NH and OK missing).

Nader received 394,321 votes total.
Badnarik received 377,199 votes total.

Both Nader and Badnarik each got 3 times as many votes as the candidate that placed fifth.

But still very little press for Badnarik. In fact, none that I've seen.


Is this all just because the Libertarian party is unknown to 90% of the country? I know that 90% of the people I mentioned his name to said "Who?". Is the fact that the Libertarian candidate did so well with virtually no press as Nader (who got plenty) a sign that this is the up-and-coming party to watch?

I'm thinking to myself... What will be happening 4 years from now. I wonder. Any thoughts?

(And the obvious "partisan" jibes that "the country will be a smoking, radioactive hole in four years" or "the libs will still be whining and demanding recounts" while funny (to a select few) they aren't really a help. )

Badnarik is a much better candidate than any in the entire race. He combines a goal of a balanced budget with protecting the rights and freedoms of American citizens. If I had thought he had any hope in HELL of taking my state's EV's, I would have voted for him. As it is, my state is, unfortunately, the spawning place of the present slimemold in office, and as such it was pretty much guaranteed he'd take the state.

Damn, I should have voted for him anyway. Voting for Kerry didn't make much difference.

Yup - I agree whole heartedly. Won't be making the same mistake twice even in a swing state.