The author of the letter “Bitter over Nader’s spoiler role in 2000’’ (Feb. 11) argues that Ralph Nader’s third-party candidacy was responsible for the election of George W. Bush. While it is true that Al Gore would have won Florida, and the presidency, had he received about 550 of the more than 97,000 votes in that state that went to Nader, should we, employing the author’s logic, randomly select 550 Floridians and hold them as the ones truly responsible?

Maybe the person responsible for Gore’s election loss in 2000 was Gore himself. The final electoral vote was 271 to 266. Had Gore won his home state, as nearly every winning presidential candidate has done since 1860, he would have captured Tennessee’s 11 electoral votes and won the general election, even without Florida.

Peter Lowy

Brookline