An idea concerning the Nader syndrome

[OnionPatch]

My friends and I were talking about the Ralph Nader syndrome: People wanting to vote for Nader and support third parties but also feeling the strong need to remove Bush in November.
Maybe it's already been suggested here, and I wouldn't be surprised if is has, but:
What if Kerry were to promise to make sweeping changes to enable third parties to become more powerful. Changes like real campaign finance laws. (Like the Clean Money Campaign) What if he were to push hard for Instant Runoff Voting that would make it possible to vote for a candidate like Nader without risking swinging the election to your LEAST favorite candidate? Would Nader voters then consider voting for Kerry instead? In this way, would-be Nader voters would be able to help remove Bush and still be advancing the cause of third parties, no?
Do you think the Kerry campaign or other Democratic campaigns ever consider this? And do you think they could be pressured to do more about campaign reform? Or is the fact that third parties might make them less powerful truly standing in the way of this?

Edited: Wow, as soon as I posted this, I read this article, so there is someone talking about this.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0723-09.htm

[Terry_M]

1. Implementing Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation

would probably really help with Nader, but it would weaken the democratic and republican parties, therefore I'm afraid neither party is going to propose it, or vote for it.

[salonghorn70]

2. Agreed

Also, instant runoff voting is not an issue that has widespread support among the American people. It only has support among those inclined to support Nader and other third parties.

[OnionPatch]

3. I wonder why

the majority of Americans would not support this. Everyone I know, rightie or leftie complains about the entrenched system. Maybe enough people just don't know about IRV.

[fujiyama]

4. A majority

of Americans have no idea what it even is. It's a foreign idea. Most people don't even understand how the electoral college works.

This is just an issue that most people don't know about and couldn't be bothered with. Educating Americans about it would help, but how? The media wouldn't give any coverage to this issue.

I think most people would like it if they knew about it, or atleast they would like the idea of having more independant voices in government.

After all, if IRV were instituted, then it would be good for parties all over the political spectrum (including Libertarians, Constitution Party, Greens, etc).

It's just that these kind of changes are hard to insitute. It took many years just to abolish slavery, for women's suffrage, and even allowing the direct election of senators. I don't expect IRV being instututed other than in small races in a few towns and cities.

[salonghorn70]

5. Political Reforms

You and onion patch are right. Most Americans don't have a clue about this. A political reform such as this will take a long time before it is accepted. It must have broad support. The popular election of Senators took many years to come to pass. The Reform movement in the 1900s finally pushed it over the line.

[Classical_Liberal]

8. The majority of Americans do support it where it has been offered

Instant runoff voting has won in referendums in Main and Arizona.

[Classical_Liberal]

7. Then how did it pass in referendums in Main and conservative

Arizona. Face it, most Americans don't like the parties anymore, so who cares whether they die.

[sandnsea]

6. Kerry-Wellstone Clean Money legislation

Kerry wrote it with Wellstone. If that isn't good enough for Nader people, nothing ever will be. Face it, they don't care about anything but some self-indulgent, piss on the establishment, line of crap.

[Classical_Liberal]

9. Clean money only meant that issue adds couldn't be produced

It didn't stop lobbiest, or destroy the ability of the wealthy to buy politicians.

[sandnsea]

10. There you go

Nothing Kerry or the Democratic Party has done is ever enough. Anti-Dems are just anti. I could be for opening all the farms to the people for free harvesting. It would be stupid, but I could be for it. One thing is for certain, lumping family farmers in with corrupt corporate farms wouldn't be accurate and would be a stupid way to go about getting what I want. That's what the left does. That's why nobody listens to them.

[NNadir]

11. Why are Nader voters always making demands?

They are a fringe that is indifferent of the horror of Bush. Why should anyone give anything to a group with so little ethics, so little vision, and so little ability to comprimise and so much Bushian hypocracy.

No one who makes these sweeping claims about cleanliness has ever examined the history of Ralph Nader and his finances. Right now he is taking money from the Repukes, money that has very, very, very, very, very contemptible origins.

Clean money indeed, who ever audited that fraud Nader?

I think that the decent people of this country ought to give Nader and his deluded or outright fraudulent supporters exactly what they deserve: Contempt and zero else.

[LimpingLib]

12. Tell Kerry to return corperate(GOP) money then we'll listen to your pontif

And Ill leave it at that? N/T to that.

"Nadir"? As in lowest point? Or a mispelling of Nader,anyway doesnt matter. Just wondering if that was a name refering to Nader.

[info being]

13. Kerry was once one of these fringe nut-jobs...

with just an army of 1,000 marching on Washington.

That's how things get done.