The Nader Effect: Polling from Florida | Newsweek Scope

Are Legal Bills To Blame?
Mark Hosenball 7/18/2009 12:00:00 AM
One of the main reasons Sarah Palin is stepping down as governor, say associates, is her large, unpaid legal bill. Her successor, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, says she is worried about "the cost of all the ethics investigations and the like." But is that really the reason? John Coale, a Washington lawyer who helped Palin set up a legal-defense fund and PAC, tells NEWSWEEK the fund is "well on its way" to paying off $500,000 in legal debt from the campaign and another $100,000 in bills incurred later, leaving questions about how big a part money woes played in her decision to resign.
LETTERS
Peace of Mind
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM
Readers marveled at what cognitive neuroscientists are uncovering about the biology of the brain and its impact on human feelings, part of our HEALTH FOR LIFE package. One pointed to the intangible, transcendent "dimensions of consciousness." Another stated simply: "Science reveals more mysteries than it explains."
CAMPAIGN 2008
Maverick Mike
Sarah Elkins 3/31/2008 12:00:00 AM
After the crowded presidential primary shrunk from eight Democrats and 11 Republicans to only three viable candidates between the two parties, what's a spurned presidential hopeful to do? Well, if you're Ron Paul, you ignore John McCain's inevitability and keep running anyway. If you're former U.S. senator Mike Gravel, you switch parties.
CAMPAIGN 2008
‘I Feel Badly About Just Quitting’
Sarah Elkins 3/20/2008 12:00:00 AM
John McCain may have clinched the Republican nomination on March 4, but for Ron Paul and his 800,000-strong army of supporters, the GOP primary isn't over ... at least not yet. Seventeen days and two primaries later, the Texas congressman is vowing to continue his campaign. In fact, he tells NEWSWEEK that his candidacy is "indefinite" and says that--unless the Arizona senator drastically alters his campaign platform--McCain can forget about a Ron Paul endorsement.
A Libertarian Surge?
George F. Will
Compact and Feisty Bob Barr, 59, probably will seek and get the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party, which convenes in Denver on Memorial Day weekend. Given the recent fund-raising prowess of a kindred spirit—Ron Paul's campaign for the Republican nomination siphoned up $35 million, mostly off the Internet—libertarians are feeling their oats. Come November, Barr conceivably could be to John McCain what Ralph Nader was to Al Gore in 2000—ruinous. Nader was a weak third-party candidate but was the most consequential in American history. He won only 2,882,955 popular votes nationwide (2.7 percent), but 97,488 of them were in Florida, where, because of Nader, George W. Bush won by 537 votes.
PERSPECTIVES
Quotes From the Week of 11/10/08