American Notes POLITICS

According to a recent Gallup poll, 37% of the voters in last month's presidential election were dissatisfied with the choice between George Bush and Michael Dukakis. Nevertheless, not many of them opted for any of the 17 other candidates who were also vying for the White House. Unofficial figures for the third-party alternatives released last week by the Associated Press show that the top vote getter was Libertarian Ron Paul with 409,412, followed by the New Alliance Party's Lenora Fulani with 201,430. "None of the above" came in eleventh by earning 6,923 ballots nationwide. Trailing the pack: Third World Assembly nominee John Martin with 229 votes. Despite his low tally, Paul insists, "we don't get discouraged. The only thing that counts is whether what we say is true." All told, the minor-party candidates collected only 0.9% of the vote, a bit better than the 0.7% they garnered in 1984.