Oakland Nader

I found this on one of my many trips to Eschaton, and I took a few minutes to add some opinions. Then I took a look at the comments. Damn, Nader sure generates plenty o' hate amongst some on the left--Ratfuck Ralph they call him.

For the record: Nader got my vote in 2000, and he'd stand a good chance of getting it in 2004 under certain circumstances. IF the Dems nominated Joe Loserman or IF Bush was way ahead in Loosiana, then why not lend a hand to a long overdue movement seeking to broaden the horizon of public debate? Ah, but the ugly spectre of Florida continues to turn erstwile liberal/left thinkers into bloodthirsty ghouls with a strong desire to slake their thirst with Corpusclii Naderi.

Haven't yet slogged through the almost two hundred comments, but here's one that accurately reflects my own view regarding the Florida debacle:

Here's a recap of some of the many factors that affected the 2000 race: Gore's shitty campaign, Holy Joe as the VP choice, the media screwing Gore at every chance, Florida illegally purging 90,000+ legitimate voters and then failing to count tens of thousands of actual ballots cast, the US Supreme Court inventing law out of whole cloth to select their chosen candidate, no Democrat Senator challenging the Florida vote count in Congress, Gore letting illegal Florida military ballots be counted, and yes, Ralph Nader earning 97,488 votes in Florida. Oh, and of course, James Harris, John Hagelin, David McReynolds, and Monica Moorehead, all candidates to the left of Gore, and each earning more than 537 votes in Florida.

Unfortunately, no email or homepage, just the name jason.

Thanks for injecting a little sanity into the feeding frenzy.

First, Nader ran for several reasons, not the least of which being that the DLC is so busy trying to be Republican-Lite that critical ground has been ceded in the realm of public debate on all kinds of issues. That's at least one reason why Howard Dean has become so popular--his initial talking point was an expressed desire to speak for "the Democratic Wing of the Democratic Party." These are the people who make NO apologies for believing in things like good schools, good roads, respect for the enviornment, and good jobs. They believe health care is a RIGHT, not a privilege (and that HMOs are nothing more that "Soviet-Style Medicine" with a capitialist face). If a Democrat doesn't stand up for issues like these, then what's the point of having a different political party? Democracy, or Republic, if you prefer, isn't a debate over hairstyles. Real issues need to be brought up, thought over, and argued thoroughly. Each side does its research, makes its proposals, and the public, via the franchise, makes its choice.

I voted for Nader in 2000 (and, for that matter, in 1996). In 96, Clinton was crowing about welfare "reform" that I considered pretty disgusting--at least when he wasn't signing the Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act--so I did what I could to help deny him a "mandate," whatever the hell that was supposed to mean (BTW--remember David Brinkley going apeshit at the end of election night?).

In 2000, Ralph got my vote partly because Bush was comfortably ahead in Louisiana, and there was nothing Gore was going to do about it--although if Gore had spoken the way he's done recently it might have persuaded me to turn the lever for him. I even signed up on one of the lists for Nader/Gore vote trades between safe Bush states and close swing states. And then I spent election evening partly in a funk because I had just broken up with my girlfriend, but grateful that the close race helped occupy my mind.

I think everyone knows what happened, so I won't repeat the details. But, in summary, if Ralph runs in 04, I certainly hope that the Democrats don't go out of their way to make him Satan, because he isn't. Florida was lost for a variety of reasons, as jason noted. And until the Democrats stand up for their traditional ideas, there will be a need for Nader and others to step in--because someone needs to articulate an agenda that isn't written by and for a six-figure income constituency.

Besides, he's already stated that should the nomination go to someone like Dean, there's a good chance he WON'T run, which is being far nicer to the Democratic Party than they've been to him.