The third parties picked guys that actually have less appeal than the mains. It was a ripe opportunity given how lame the picks of the mains were, but they blew it.
The big question history books will ask about 2008 is why nobody worth a damn ran for president.
Well, the Dems had their usual crowded field. It might have been of poorer quality than normal (in terms of stature) since a lot of potential candidates on that side believed the fix was in for Hillary. She was so unappealing that they actually nominated Obama. But that was a coin flip. Coulda gone the other way.
My criticism of the Republicans is that the Bush Administration was sterile, politically-speaking. GWB has done ZERO party building. I guess this is what we get for buying into the "Compassionate-Conservatism" label. I fell for it. At the very least GWB could have asked Cheyney to retire 4 years ago in favor of a runningmate with a political future. Then again, President Bush would have had to 'get political' and he's very reluctant to get his hands dirty.
I might be a little too harsh on President Bush. He's a wartime president. The American public tends to be tough on that type.
Probably because there was nobody in office anywhere who was worth that much.
You can say the candidates were poor quality, but because this was an "open election" there were more of them than usual.
Also, more of them had held actual elected office (unlike Perot or Forbes or Keyes or Buchanan) and were therefore considered "electable" or "Presidential" or competent.
If you really want a big picture answer, maybe this will help.