In recent years, third-party presidential candidates have received an undeserved bad rap in the United States of America.

The last candidate to draw a significant number of votes and support was Ross Perot in 1992. While Perot was able to pull even with President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton in the polls leading up to the election, he only received 19 percent of the actual vote and was ignored in the Electoral College.

In 2000, Ralph Nader ran against George W. Bush and Al Gore as an independent candidate. Unlike Perot, Nader was not allowed to participate in the presidential debates, as the two major parties — the duopoly — had influenced the creation of restrictive barriers to participation.

Many people incorrectly blamed Nader for Bush's win, as if the votes of the individuals who supported Nader were somehow the rightful property of Gore.

Four years later, Nader ran again. This time, on a campaign centered on ballot access and electoral reform. A major premise of this campaign was that President Bush and Sen. John Kerry differed little and neither candidate was strongly against the war in Iraq, which a majority of Americans opposed.

Nader again finished with few votes, as the media had wrongly labeled him a "spoiler" and blamed him for the Bush reelection. The 2004 election was a low point for advocates of breaking the two-party duopoly that is so deeply entrenched in American politics.

Building a third party or running an independent candidate for the presidency is an enormous task. From the start, the independent is shorthanded financially. It is hard to compete with the hundreds of millions of dollars raised by the major parties' fundraising machines. The independent must compete in a system designed by and for the duopoly, with restrictive, complicated and inconsistent laws concerning ballot access.

Additionally, the independent must begin his campaign without the dedicated army of supporters whom each major party already has claim to.

Given these barriers, how will a third-party or independent candidate fare in the next election? With the 2008 presidential election cycle already underway, there seems to be a pack of a few leading candidates in each party, followed by a much larger pool of hopefuls who almost certainly will not be in the race come next spring. However, with the early primaries, there will be a long time between the point at which the major parties' candidates are determined and the actual date of the election.

The potential result of this is significant candidate burnout, where voters tire of the major candidates before the November election, potentially sets the stage for an independent or third party candidate to make an impact. Coupled with a growing national dissatisfaction with the two major parties and their grip on the political system, this could set the stage for a significant independent campaign for the presidency.

One group, Unity08, is aiming to build a third-party presidential campaign from the grassroots level using the Internet. Unity08 aims to select a ticket that consists of one Republican and one Democrat, or two moderates, through an online nomination process. They intend to have the voters decide the issues that are of greatest importance to them, and for the candidates to focus on these issues.

Essentially, the group is looking to remove the corrupt influence, money, single-interest groups and arrogance associated with the political duopoly from the electoral process. This is not an easy feat, and though they may give the impression that they aren't concerned, you can be sure that the duopoly powers will be working hard to combat these efforts.

Some big names have already been mentioned in the same breath as Unity08, including left-leaning Mayor Michael Bloomberg, R-NY, and outspoken war critic Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.

These are significant and symbolic steps. Major changes to such an entrenched system take long, concerted efforts, but these seeds could help make those changes over time.

Fair ballot access and sensible reform are essential to the continuation of a functioning democracy. These developments must happen with the emergence and acceptance of a third party, or a system that allows for such a party to exist and participate in the electoral process. Unity08 is one group of people who are taking their chances and trying to make a change. You can learn more about their efforts at www.unity08.com.

Ryan Dinkgrave is an MSU public relations graduate student and State News columnist. Reach him at dinkgra2@msu.edu.