After what seems like 10 years (but in reality was more like just two) the near-endless presidential campaign has finally come to end.  A mind-boggling $1 billion was spent between the two major campaigns—and that’s not counting the hundreds of millions that the national and state parties spent, along with other “independent” groups.  It’s almost impossible to imagine that it costs that much to run for president, but the fact is there for all to see.

In this issue of The Pulse is a letter from perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who left the Green Party to run as an independent for the White House.  He complains about a lack of media coverage not only for his campaign but for all third-party candidates.  While Mr. Nader’s comments have a strong overtone of sour grapes, his point about the plight of third parties in this country is valid.

The Libertarian Party, for example, has been around for decades and has fielded candidates in many major elections, not just for president, but for governorships, Senate and House seats.  But faced with raising the kind of money necessary to mount a sustainable bid, the party falls very far short.  In recent history, only the Reform Party was able to make any substantial showing as a third party, with the 19 percent Ross Perot garnered in 1992, and then the successful gubernatorial run by former professional wrestler and Hollywood actor Jesse Ventura in Minnesota a few years later.

But stories such as these are few and far between.  There hasn’t been a legitimate third party in this country in well over a century; not since Theodore Roosevelt ran for president on the Bull Moose ticket.  And the reasons are simple: money and organization.

It takes more than a charismatic candidate; it takes oodles of cash and thousands of people on the ground around the country to make a campaign successful.  Barack Obama, before he even announced his candidacy, made sure to enlist hundreds of volunteers and some well-paid campaign veterans to build his organization, and their efforts paid off handsomely.
Yet even the most organized campaign lives and dies by cash.  John McCain opted into public financing and wasn’t able to match Obama, who opted out and raised a record-shattering amount.

Obama’s 30-minute infomercial last week cost nearly $5 million—money the cash-strapped Republican couldn’t match.  What chance did a Bob Barr, a Cynthia McKinney or a Ralph Nader have against that kind of monetary bludgeon?

What will it take to level the playing field and give a multitude of voices and ideas equal footing on the campaign trail?  There is always lots of talk among politicians—especially those on the losing end of a campaign—about limiting spending, but the fact remains that as long as the Democratic and Republican parties maintain their stranglehold on elected office, the only place where third parties are able to compete will be on the untamed frontiers of the Internet.

Which brings up an interesting question: Four years from now, when the Internet will have completely integrated into every aspect of our lives, will the two big parties finally get some competition?

We’ll find out when the next presidential campaign starts.

In about two weeks or so.