Forgotten candidates for US president may still impact race

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Source: AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama have captured the limelight in the race for the US presidency, but they are not the only ones running: 12 forgotten candidates are also chasing the keys to the White House.

Without the million-dollar war chests or national organizations to compete with the major parties, none of the other hopefuls have a chance of victory on election day, November 4. But still, the libertarian candidate Bob Barr, independent Ralph Nader and, to a lesser extent, Chuck Baldwin's Constitution Party and Green candidate Cynthia McKinney, could have a significant impact on the hopes of McCain or Obama, who remain locked in tight races in key battleground states.

For anyone who remembers Nader's bid in 2000, and the effect it had on Democrat Al Gore's chances of beating George W. Bush, the possibility of such an upset is tangible.

In 2000, Nader won almost three million votes nationwide. Gore, who won the national popular vote by almost half a million votes, lost to Bush in critical state of Florida by just 537 votes. Standing as a Green party candidate then, Nader snapped up some 97,000 votes in the Sunshine State.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081024/ts_alt_afp/usvotecandidates