Skywalker18 wrote:
Unlike George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, both of whom running as independent candidates, H. Ross Perot’s independent run for presidency in 1992 arose not from an unsuccessful effort to gain a major party nomination but from a desire to establish a viable third party in American politics.
A.George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, both of whom running as independent candidates, -- comparison error ;
B.George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, each of whom ran as independent candidates, -- comparison error
C.George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, both of which ran as an independent candidate, -- comparison error ; usage of which to refer to people is incorrect
D.the independent candidates, George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, -- comparison error
E.the independent candidacies of George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, - Correct
Answer E
Dear
TaN1213,
I'm happy to respond.
It surprises me that this is an official question, because it might be seen as a tad controversial (
George Wallace was more controversial than either
John Anderson or
Ross Perot!) and because it's on the easy side.
Big picture: the second term of the comparison is "
H. Ross Perot’s independent run for presidency," i.e. his candidacy. We need to compare candidacy to candidacy, not person to person. (A)-(D) begin with people--they are set up for a person to person comparison, so these all construct an illogical comparison. That's the problem with (A)-(D): they start with people.
The part you highlighted was not connected to this but a further distractor.
A.)
George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, both of whom running as independent candidates,The relative pronoun "whom," like "who" and "which," open a dependent clause, a full clause, and like any full clause, this needs a full verb, not merely a participle.
B.)
George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, each of whom ran as independent candidates,The highlighted structure is 100% correct, within the larger illogical design of the sentence overall.
C.)
George Wallace in 1968 and John Anderson in 1980, both of which ran as an independent candidate,We cannot refer to human beings with "
which"--that sounds too dehumanizing.
Does all this make sense?
Mike