by Justin Bartz

Created on: May 02, 2010   Last Updated: May 03, 2010

Whether you love or hate the Tea Party movement in America, what it has shown us is that a legitimate third party can be a viable option in American politics.  Many voters are becoming fed up with only two significant options on the local and national levels. 

In fact, many of them have voted "against" a candidate or for the "lesser of two evils" in past elections.  When will the collective voting populace wake up and realize that in America, we no longer need to vote for the Democratic Party or Republican Party?

During the 2008 United States presidential election, did you know that in addition to the Democratic and Republican parties, there were three other parties that nominated candidates with ballot access in enough states to win the required 270 electoral votes to win the election? 

It's true!  But could you actually name any of them?  I will venture a guess and say that the majority of Americans could not name even one third party candidate.  

While the Democratic Party nominated Barack Obama (IL) and Joe Biden (DE) and the Republican Party nominated John McCain (AZ) and Sarah Palin (AK), there was also the Independent Party nominees Ralph Nader (CT) and Matt Gonzalez (CA), the Libertarian Party nominees Bob Barr (GA) and Wayne Allyn Root (NV), the Constitution Party nominees Chuck Baldwin (FL) and Darrell Castle (TN), and finally the Green Party nominees Cynthia McKinney (GA) and Rosa Clemente (NC).

While none of the third parties achieved 1% of the nationwide vote, a record number of votes were cast in the election, and there were over 1.6 million votes total for third party candidates. 

This is not a small number by any means, but instead it's a significant portion of the voting population that gave their support to a candidate other than the "Big Two". 

In repeated polls that were conducted up to the election, there are much more significant totals of registered voters that consider themselves something other than a (D)emocrat or (R)epublican.  The question then is why there isn't more support (and actual votes) for third party candidates.

The most common answer you hear is that somebody "doesn't want to vote for a candidate that has no chance to win the election."  While this is true on a national level up to this point, we have to ask ourselves what we are voting for, as well as why. 

Is the objective of an election to vote for the candidates we believe are going to win?  Or do we

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