Ok, I know everyone is sick of hearing about it, but I was wondering about something.
IIRC, there are 538 electoral votes up for grabs, right? We keep hearing that the potential winner needs 270 to win, which is a majority of the votes (without it being a tie). (right?)
Just suppose (this is a BIG suppose, but bear with me) that Nader and Buchanan both got enough popular votes to capture a couple of states each. What if the four candidates (Bush, Gore, Nader and Buchanan) each got 130-some electoral votes…who would win? The person with the most electoral votes? Or does the potential winner HAVE to get 270 votes?
If nobody gets a majority of electoral votes, then it is decided by the House of Representatives. The three highest electoral vote-getters would be voted on by the House. Each state delegation gets one vote.
So, in your hypothetical, Gore, Bush and Nader would all have a shot at the presidency.