Well, nobody is going to
believe this, at least in the
contested areas, for a
long time to come. As I write this writeup,
Bush is ahead of
Gore in the
Florida recount by
341 votes. This is a
ridiculously small amount, easily within the
margin of error (ie every recount would likely come up with slightly different results, and the
variation would probably be enough for a different person to be called the
winner after each one).
But because the difference is so small, no longer will people, at least in the state of Florida, feel that voting for a third party is ok because their vote does not matter. It doesn't mean they can't vote for a third party, but the "your vote doesn't matter" idea will be demonstrated to not be applicable.
My guess is that this election will increase voter turnout in future elections because people will see that they can matter.