It’s hard out there for a third-party candidate. The Texas electoral system does a very good job of keeping the two-party ballot access status quo when it comes to election time. That’s long been a bug-bear for Greens, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, the Free Hugs party et. al. Bob Barr and the Libertarian Party of Texas are dragging the secretary of state through the courts to get Obama and McCain thrown off the ballot. (Their argument is that they didn’t file their paperwork in time, so it’s less “throwing off” and more “never being on in the first place.)

Now official write-in candidate (how does that work?) Ralph Nader has weighed in to echo what pretty much everyone else has said anout the suit: that it’s going nowhere.

The big two parties, Nader said, “will simply lean on state officials to ignore the law or direct the Texas legislature to push back the deadline after it expired.” Calling the filing fiasco as “just another example of political bigotry and its double-standard in American politics,” Nader went on to congratulate the Libertarians for getting on the ballot (no sign of whether that was through gritted teeth. Seriously, official write-in? Who’s idea was that?)

This article appears in September 12 • 2008.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.