# Did Nader really cost Gore Florida? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471 "2004-10-15T22:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/41 "2004-10-17T04:06:32Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Bush couldn’t even carry his home state of Massachusetts. Are you talking about Bush Sr.? He may have been born there, but no one considers Massachusetts to be Bush’s home state. His homes were in Maine and Texas. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/42 "2004-10-17T20:35:52Z")
In 2000, Gore had the TVA flooded for a whitewater rafting stunt. He would never win Tennessee after that dunderhead of a move. Gore also didn’t advocate strongly for a full recount in Florida from the get go (which the Supreme Court ultimately ruled was the way to go, but was too late). gore lost the elevtion, and wasted the most votes in America history. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/43 "2004-10-29T06:16:06Z")
> [@capacitor](#): > > In 2000, Gore had the TVA flooded for a whitewater rafting stunt. He would never win Tennessee after that dunderhead of a move. > > Gore also didn’t advocate strongly for a full recount in Florida from the get go (which the Supreme Court ultimately ruled was the way to go, but was too late). > > gore lost the elevtion, and wasted the most votes in America history. [factcheck.org](http://factcheck.org) says the whitewater rafting stunt story is false. Yes, the Gore team was foolish not to demand a full recount. This is a good example of why, when an election result is disputed, it should not be UP to the candidates to decide what districts are/are not recounted. A full recount should be automatic. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/44 "2004-10-29T10:49:40Z")
Why do you guys use that kind of ballot to start with? Elections here in Sweden use a different piece of paper for each party (plus blank ones for write-in). You take the paper bearing the name of the party you wish to vote for, put it in an envelope, and give the envelope to the official. Easy. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/45 "2004-10-29T15:44:37Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Why do you guys use that kind of ballot to start with? Elections here in Sweden use a different piece of paper for each party (plus blank ones for write-in). You take the paper bearing the name of the party you wish to vote for, put it in an envelope, and give the envelope to the official. Easy. Yes, but here in America the ballots give people the freedom to split their ticket if they so choose. A person can vote for the Democratic candidate for president, the Republican for US Congress, the Democrat for US Senator, the Republican for county prosecutor, the Dem for county judge, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/46 "2004-10-29T15:50:06Z")
We don’t use your Swedish system for a number of reasons. First, a large percentage of our voters consider themselves “independent”, and do not vote by party. They choose candidates from two or more parties. So, under your system, if a voter did not want to vote by party, he or she would have to use a blank ballot to write in a candidate. Which brings us to reason #2. Our ballots contain _numerous_ elections. It’s possible that one ballot would include president/vice-president, U.S. senator, U.S. representative, state governor, state senator, state representative, county officials, municipal officials, school board officials, and others. While it would be easy to “write in” a candidate on a blank ballot if there were only one election (president/vice-president), it becomes unfeasible if there are many elections. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/47 "2004-10-29T22:30:56Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Are you talking about Bush Sr.? He may have been born there, but no one considers Massachusetts to be Bush’s home state. His homes were in Maine and Texas. W was born in Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/48 "2004-10-29T22:56:41Z")
No, George W. Bush was born in [New Haven, Connecticut](http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/gwbbio.html) (where dad was going to college), and he grew up in Midland and Houston, Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471/49 "2004-10-31T15:25:46Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Which brings us to reason #2. Our ballots contain _numerous_ elections. Ah. That explains it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-nader-really-cost-gore-florida/269471.md?page=2)