The erroneous claim that Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the 2000 election is frequently cited to discredit voting for a 3rd party candidate. It’s nonsense. Here’s why.

Black voters in Florida were purged from voter rolls by the tens of thousands, handing the White House to George Bush. In a sad moment in American History, highlighted in Michael Moore’s Farenheit 911, members of the Congressional Black Caucus rose to voice their opposition but Gore as President of the Senate told them to sit down and shut up, even scoring some cheap laughs.