My oldest, dearest friend will be voting for Mr. Nader this November. Patti Smith adores him, calling him "the only true patriot." I, however, am not too keen on him when I read this...
But, days later, the Kerry-Edwards ticket leads the Bush-Cheney ticket by a statistically insignificant margin-47 percent to 44 percent-among registered voters nationwide. Independent candidate Ralph Nader draws just 3 percent of the country's support while 6 percent remain undecided. But when Nader is removed from the race, the poll finds that the Kerry-Edwards expanding to a statistically significant six points-51 percent to 45 percent. This suggests that Nader could affect the outcome of election if he is on the ballot in all 50 states.
In all honesty, I like where Nader stands on pretty much every issue (warning - PDF). It's just that he's simply not a viable candidate. I don't live in a swing state. Connecticut's pretty much a cinch for the Dems. If I were to make a decision on principle and vote for Nader it literally would make zero difference. However, if he steals even a small slice of votes in some of those contested states it could become disturbingly close. That's something we can't afford to have happen yet again.
His campaign theme, "Vote for what you believe in - not what you fear" is a very nice sentiment. However, four more years of the status quo is one of the most frightening things I can imagine.
Posted by mikewolf at July 12, 2004 01:25 PMWhere is that quote from?
i hope you saw that heindrik hertzberg piece a few months ago about nader. it pretty much says it all for me.
Posted by: shana on July 12, 2004 04:45 PMI just got done reading a book telling me how Nadar has messed up progress not made it better. He speaks and i can only see where it will cost me more to buy something. When anyone gets a chance read John Stossel's book, "Give Me a Break." He talks about even he is to blame how things got so messed today. I also got behind watching Penn And Teller's show Bullshit. It airs on Showtime and is real great and cutting evryone's story and getting to the truth. Although you may not like them Mike they tore PETA to shreads. Either way I am looking for the truth and right now I am not getting it from ANY of the parties running.
Posted by: Brad on July 12, 2004 04:53 PMHope you listened to the Nader v. Dean debate on NPR the other day; I caught much of it and found it remarkable. I think Nader is pathological, which is great for a critic (which is what I think he is) but a bit scary for an actual candidate. Then again, there is no hope of his winning, so it's all safe enough. I like his "binding none of the above" vote scheme, but his relentless qualities are off-putting. And a man without humor should not head a state.
Dean was a joy to hear. It's a pity the way things all played out; he, like Kucinich, had viable and truly alternate views. I don't think Dean was presidential stuff this time out, but he certainly didn't deserve the bile that was dumped on him in the end. His ideas ring true.
Posted by: Linus on July 12, 2004 05:22 PMThis is exactly the debate Jan and I have been having for about a week now. I'm not sure if you saw my posts, but there are some good article links that are worth reading on Nader, if you haven't already. I also support his platform but I think that the guy really isn't running to promote the platform. Have you ever heard him give ONE stump speech about any of these issues? I haven't. And I can't find transcripts of any of these speeches either. And believe me, I've looked!
Posted by: Leigh Anne on July 12, 2004 11:56 PM