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When Ralph
Nader ran for the presidency again in 2000, the results made headlines,
and history.
In
his repeat run on the Green Party ticket with LaDuke, Nader appeared
on the ballot in 43 states and Washington, D.C., emphasizing the
need for campaign finance reform, economic justice, universal
health care, affordable housing and workers' rights.
He also proposed
tougher gun laws, including locks, consumer training and licensing
and manufacturer accountability, saying, "You have to be
licensed to drive a car, and a car is not presumptively assumed
to be a weapon. The same should be true of guns."
Nader captured
2.7 percent of the national vote -- many of those votes that may
have otherwise gone to then-Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic
nominee. In two states, Florida and New Hampshire, the number
of votes that gave the states' electoral votes to George W. Bush
was smaller than the number of votes cast for Nader.
Nader supporters
argued that the Democratic Party would have won the election had
they chosen a better candidate than Gore, saying that by challenging
the two-party system they were providing more choice for American
voters. But many liberal activists blamed Nader's candidacy for
Gore's narrow loss in the election.
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By Jessica Moore, Online NewsHour
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