Nader Plans run in '04 , aka Bush takes the White House b/c of Nader ego

[Cappadonna]

Makes me wonder why I'm a registered greens:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/11/elec04.prez.nader.2004/index.html


Nader eyeing another White House run
Thursday, December 11, 2003 Posted: 7:24 PM EST (0024 GMT)


PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- Consumer advocate Ralph Nader said Thursday he is leaning toward another independent run for the presidency and will make his decision public in January.

"We're testing the waters," Nader said in an interview with CNN. "It's a high probability but that is yet to be determined."

Nader has formed an exploratory committee for a 2004 run and said he would gauge his support through the success of fund-raising efforts and the number of volunteers who come forward.

The consumer advocate last made a bid for the White House in 2000 on the Green Party ticket, when he won about 3 percent of the popular vote nationwide and got 5 percent or more in 12 states.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT




This is bad several reasons:

1) This splits the votes against Bush-- something that was fine 4 years ago but is utterly stupid after we have learned what kind of sick bastard Smirk really is. Even my crazy evangelical xian friends think he's a monster.

2) The Green Party needs to move beyond being Ralph Nader's personal groupies. Come on, the guy's not even registered in the party. If Nader wants a bunch of doe-eyed political activists to fawn before him and worship him like a God, tell him to stay with his PIRGs and personal staffers.

3) Because of 1 & 2, this will be the nail in the coffin for third party politics in the US.

[GURUving]

1. Nader had some traction in the last election

but it has gone due to people who supported him, for the most part, realizing that the current administration is a force that must be stopped - in any way possible, and it will not happen with votes siphoned from a human being democrat and thus giving he who shall remain unnamed another shot at a majority in an election. Nader won't receive 2% of the vote, and even that may be too much.

I used to be a green, but am not a believer in self flagelation.

[The Zanti Regent]

2. You've already destroyed my nephew's life, Ralph!

Are you wanting to destroy another nephew in Iraq?

DROP DEAD RALPH!

[Bucky]

5. Zanti, I'm so sorry about your nephew

I can't imagine what your family must be going through, but I certainly fear it. I teach in an inner city high school. For a lot of our kids the military is a great stepladder career and they go on to be the first ones in their families to go to college. The changes that service to the country gives these kids is amazing--you can see the valor and self-confidence in their eyes whenever they come back to visit the school after basic training.

It mortifies me to think about any of my boys going off to war to die because of this president's bad judgment. It feels inadequate even calling the needless deaths of 400+ Americans and 20,000+ Iraqis "bad judgment". It's criminal negligence is what it is. Greed, arrogance, dominance, and a frivolous attitude toward other people's lives and suffering caused this war. This is very personal to me. Although recruitment out of our high school is at a near dead stand, I still know of several grads who are in uniform. I want this rush to combat to stop.

Again, please accept my condolences for your nephew's loss. He was misled, but if he was in the service he was serving for all our safety and was an honorable hero.

[Hope4]

3. He sees how DK has been treated

Many of my far left friends think selecting clark who was not even a dem has made a lot of the left angry. Why do we need a fired general who was not a dem to come on and run. We have good dems who have served for years and will not be faced with being a fired general.

[Rowdyboy]

10. Your hatred of Wesley Clark is duly noted

As it has been in nearly every single one of your other 48 posts. Get a life.

[theorist]

4. Couldn't Nader hurt Bush as well?

Nader is an extremely intelligent man. If he can convince a small fraction of Bush voters to back him (on a strictly "hard on corporations" platform) then the Dem voters (who are mostly concerned with getting rid of Bush, and cannot be swayed by Nader) could pull it off.

Enron still leaves a bad taste in the mouths of many conservatives. Maybe Nader could pull a page from the Perot playbook.

[Cappadonna]

6. Probably not, most cons hate him and he has a hard time speaking plainly

Basically, most right wingers find Nader to be self-righteous gadfly, an unscrupulous trial lawyer and all around pain in the ass. You think Dems can't stand him, hang out with a few Republicans, and you will hear some real venom spit amongst conservatives.

The difference between Nader Perot is Perot was not some "Big government commie pinko yankee lawyer", but a pretty right wing businessman of the Goldwater ilk. He fed well into the working class natural distrust of international alliance and overall protectionist attitude.

Also, Perot, though an extremely intelligent (if slight off balanced) person, has a home spun way of speaking in which people can understand him. (I can still vividly remember his 30 minute TV spot back in '92). Not the faux folksiness that Smirk rehearses with Rove, but the kind of blue collar plain speech that makes guys like Ventura, Sharpton, Kuicinich and Buchannan popular -- they're smart, but they don't try to talk over your head.

Nader, like many of the far left's leading stalwarts, has a hard time reaching anyone other than rich liberal elites in hollywood, old hippies and angry college kids.

[theorist]

7. Is Nader beyond an image change?

I'm not thinking about the dittoheads here. I'm thinking about the more usual American with the short-term memory deficiency; those who had no idea who Nader was when they looked at the ballot in Nov. 2000. I know it's far fetched and probably wrong to think this is possible, but I can't help but think it is.

Couldn't some Ralphy message resonate with conservatives? hmmm....I guess that does sound like kind a silly question... :)

[Cappadonna]

12. Its not the message, its the messenger

Sure, some (very small bits) of Nader's platform could appeal to conservatives and moderate republicans. Buchannan stole a good portion of it in the reform party platform last time around. But Nader ain't the main to carry. My second point is clear, so long as people think Green Party = Ralph Nader and the party functions that, we can give up ever making a dent in the party politics. We will go the way of the Reforms and the BullMoose Party. As far Nader changing his image....hardly. I have met the man and if you think Gore is boring and stiff.....oh baby. Nader is one dude stuck in his ways. Besides, the media pretty makes reality. Once the yellow dog media casts Nader as the "wacked out liberal curmugeon" its gonna stick.

- Cappa

[AndyTiedye]

9. But Nader Won't Run Against Bush, He Runs Against the Democrat

That's what he did in 2000.

[AndyTiedye]

8. Of Course Nader Will Be Running Against Us (and not against Bush) Again

He figures this may be his chance to finish off the Democratic Party for good.

[billbuckhead]

11. He figures Dean will be down double digits nationwide before the election

Nadir figures the voters will think all votes are protest votes. Witness California uber alles.

[silverweb]

13. That clinches it.

I traded in my Green registration yesterday and reregistered as a Democrat so I can vote in the primary. The news of Camejo and now Nader running for president in 2004 means I'll be staying in the Democratic Party.

I love the Green Party platform. Even more, however, I hate the thought of Greens splitting the vote again. They would literally be handing the world back over for another four years of the criminals running things now.

Idealistic goals are wonderful. But a certain amount of pragmatism and some plain common sense are necessary to make even a little headway in that direction. Allowing the rethuglicans to continue their rampage against the planet and humanity does not show much pragmatism or common sense at all, and it accomplishes nothing in terms of some day reaching any of those lofty ideals.

[Old and In the Way]

15. You know the old saying-

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Hey, in another time and space, I'd happily support a 3rd party that'd push the issues of environment, alternative energy, radical progressive taxation, etc.

But not this time. If we don't stick together and rid our government of these neo-criminals, I fear that our democratic institutions will morph into a single-party corporate state.

I can only hope that people will put the needs of this country ahead of their favorite brand of mypolitics.....as a famous founding father said 200 years ago(and I paraphrase):

"We all better hang together or we'll all hang separately".

[silverweb]

18. Amen!

We have to stick together. There are no other options and time is running out. This is not a game anymore and is not "business as usual," if anyone here ever thought it was. I think a lot of people just don't fully realize that yet or are in denial about it.

[tedoll78]

14. I hate to say this..

but when Nader drops dead, I'll be dancing in the streets.

The man is an enabler. An accomplice. The blood of thousands is on his hands also.

[tinrobot]

16. This election is too important

For distractions like this...

If Nader wants more press, maybe he should go on Survivor and eat some bugs.

[ShaneGR]

17. I wonder how much money he's made

From the investment he has in Haliburton and Walmart... looks like he's getting greedy.