Experts predict that the 2004 presidential race will be another nail-biter, with the Oval Office being awarded to the candidate who can scrape by with only a few percentage points. Enraged Democrats still blame "spoiler" Ralph Nader for siphoning enough votes from Al Gore to tip the balance to George Bush. In reality, the 2000 election was so close (537 votes in Florida) that the race could have been altered by any one of five "third party" candidates. Who are these renegade third party candidates who choose to shun the traditional labels of "Democrat" and "Republican" - and hope to lead America down a more independent path? Household names like Ralph Nader draw respectable crowds. More often than not, however, lesser-known candidates speak to rooms packed with empty furniture. But regardless of the size of their audience, the fate of third party candidates is predetermined. Winning is, frankly, impossible. For them, victory means getting the two major parties to consider their ideas. CRASHING THE PARTIES 2004, a one-hour special airing on PBS Wednesday, September 29, 2004, takes the Robert Frost approach - the political road less traveled. Viewers will meet all the third party candidates who are on enough state ballots to have a mathematical chance of winning the presidency. Spanning the ideological spectrum, these underdogs share one thing in common - a passionate desire to make America a better place. CRASHING THE PARTIES will juxtapose behind-the-scenes glimpses of the George Bush and John Kerry campaigns with the almost invisible efforts of the Libertarian Party (Michael Badnarik), the Green Party (David Cobb), the Constitution Party (Michael Peroutka) and Ralph Nader - who is pursuing the elusive dream of uniting America's ideologically diverse third parties into one movement. Advocates of a two-party system argue that multiple parties weaken the electoral process by fragmenting the country into special interest groups, instead of building a broad-based coalition-achieving consensus. Third party supporters maintain that they make the elections more inclusive and representative of the public. In their view, Americans have dozens of choices of toothpaste brands - why not more than two choices for the most powerful job on earth? Expert commentators will include Harvard University lecturer Jesse Ventura, the professional wrestler who stunned the political world with his successful independent bid for Minnesota governor in 1998. CRASHING THE PARTIES 2004 is part of the national October line-up of "By the People," PBS' series of political documentaries, news specials and educational programs aimed at getting more voters involved in the electoral process.
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