Could Goode do a good turn for the Democrats?

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The third-party candidate who could derail Mitt Romney
By Scott Bomboy, Wed, Aug 8, 2012

A virtually unknown presidential candidate in Virginia could derail Mitt Romney’s bid for
president. But how rare is it for a third-party candidate to influence a race for president?

Currently, Virgil Goode, a candidate running in Virginia, has about 9 percent of the projected
vote in the upcoming November election, according to polling data.

With Mitt Romney needing Virginia—especially if President Barack Obama can take Ohio or
Florida—Goode could become the little-known spoiler in the national election.

The former congressman has a strong enough following in rural Virginia to take votes away from
Romney, and Goode has no plans to end his low-budget campaign.

Speaking with a TV station in Lynchburg, Goode said he wanted to take votes away from both
candidates. He hopes to be added to a ballot in late August, as a Constitution Party candidate.

Not surprisingly, there are already challenges to Goode’s petition effort to get on the Virginia
ballot. The state’s Virginia Board of Elections said on Monday it will investigate signatures on
petitions. Goode’s campaign told the Huffington Post that investigation was political in nature.

“Nobody has ever asked any questions about our ballots or anything like that until Congressman
Goode is doing well in the polls in Virginia,” said Mitch Turner.

In the past, third-party or independent candidates have affected the presidential election.

[snipped]

In some cases, a third-party candidate doesn’t have to get a big vote count to make a difference.
Some Democrats still blame Ralph Nader for Al Gore’s narrow loss to George W. Bush in 2000.

Nader got 97,000 votes in Florida, where Bush beat Gore by 537 votes to win the national election.
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