Great. Now that it really appears possible to dethrone Bush, the spoiler from hell seems poised to announce he is running in the 2004 presidential election. If so, it will be unforgivable.
February 17, 2004
The Discussion: 3 Comments
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1
By vaara
I doubt whether Nader’s candidacy will have much of an impact. He’s not the sort of person to run (or not) based on opinion polls, so he’s not doing this based on any perception of popular support.
I suspect that many of the Nader voters from 2000 are Deanies this year; but I also think that the overwhelming majority of them will switch to the Democratic nominee rather than go with Nader.
Besides, it’s not like Bush Himself is immune from challenges from his own extremists… the more he pisses off the ultra-con base (cf. the immigration thing, his relative lack of anti-gay vehemence, etc.) the more likely it is that far-right candidates like Roy Moore, the Alabama Ten Commandments Judge, will run.
February 18, 2004 @ 1:22 am | Comment
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By Brendan
Nader himself has said that he ran in 2000 to keep the Democrats in check by putting forth a progressive platform. Judging by the at-least-better-than-the-2000-election level of the Democratic candidates now, he seems to have had some success there; what’s wrong with continuing in the same vein?
February 18, 2004 @ 7:53 pm | Comment
3
By richard
Brendan, the concern over Nader is simple: In the last election, where every single vote counted way, way more than usual, Nader siphoned votes from the two leading candidates. I can’t prove it, but I’d bet my life that most of those votes would have gone to Gore had Nader not run. Of course, some of the Nader supporters probably wouldn’t have voted for either Bush or Gore if Nader hadn’t run, but I think many would have. Would they have been enough to tip the election? I’m not sure. What I am sure of is that Nader’s running certainly didn’t help anyone but Bush.
This coming election is going to be particularly vicious. Nader will be a nuisance at best, and a spoiler at worst. Vaara says he probably won’t have much impact, but others — liberals like me, if you follow the link in my post — fear that Nader will pose one more distraction at a time when the Democrats need to be focused Zen-like on the prize. While I actually admire Nader on some levels, I think his famous claim that there was no difference between Gore and Bush was flawed, to say the least, and he should have pulled out of the race when it became clear how close it would be. He seriously damaged his own reputation, and many now see him as a bit crazed. I think that’s the one positive after-effect of his 2000 bid — people got to see his fundamental insincerity, and his base was most likely eroded.
February 19, 2004 @ 8:24 am | Comment