>I just haven't seen any concrete gains from the strategy and a pile of failures due to the spoiler effects.
>I could be convinced that the spoiler losses were offset by the gains, except there ae almost no gains, only losses from the strategy
I think on this key point Nathan is right. Third parties are great if they accomplish something. I think you need a mass movement first. (I think an network such as Chuck Munson advocates could still be accurately described as a mass movement - if it was large enough.)
This does not mean supporting the Demos with time or money. But it means staying out of electoral politics for the most part until you are large enough to acocmplish something - and voting for the lesser evil until you can run candidates of your own with a chance of winning greater than 0.
I supported, voted, and campaigned for Nader in the expectation that the Greens would use this as a base for growth. I won't say that there has been no green growth. But I have seen no results that justify the difference between Bush and Gore. Not that Gore is not horrible - but Bush is worse.