I could see the map looking like this:
312: George W. Bush/Dick Cheney - 50.1%
226: Albert Gore, Jr./Joe Lieberman - 44.2%
Ralph Nader/Peter Camejo(Reform/Green) - 5.3%
Others - 0.4%
The Reform Party endorses Nader. His successful attacks on Gore hurt Gore badly in the popular vote, but Bush is considered the winner of the debate. In the Vice Presidential debate, Camejo paints Lieberman and Cheney as "two sides of the same bloody coin," referencing their staunch interventionism. The two then proceed to economics, after realizing they can't debate each other on foreign policy really. Camejo then questions why both of them support the Gingrich-Clinton welfare reforms. He once more uses his coin line, saying they are both "two sides of the same miserly coin," referencing their support for cuts to welfare.
Camejo manages to get an astonishing 22% of people to believe he won the debate, with 19% believing Lieberman won and 18% believe Cheney won. 29% think Camejo tied with Lieberman or Cheney, 16% believe Lieberman and Cheney tied, and 14% think it was a three way tie. This astonishing result of 51% of people either thinking he tied or outright won the debate manages to seriously wound the Gore ticket.
Note: The only states Gore does better than he did in OTL are Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
