December 19, 2003
Help Talk Some Sense Into Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader's website is asking for our advice on whether he should run next year. If anybody agrees with what I was saying before, let's head over there and let him know.
Considering that the site does not show us the results of the poll, and he has a disclaimer on the front page about ignoring "orchestrated campaigns", he may well be planning to follow his ego no matter what we tell him. But it's worth a shot.
EDIT: In the interest of fairness, here is a Wall Street Journal interview posted by Daily KOS, where Nader seems to indicate he will not run if Dean gets the nod:
For all the gloominess Democrats may harbor about Howard Dean's chances in the general election, here's a bit of good news: Ralph Nader, whose third-party candidacy cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000, seems unlikely to mount a run against the former Vermont governor.
Mr. Nader says he will decide in the next few weeks whether to run. But in the meantime, his praise of Mr. Dean undercuts any rationale for another independent candidacy.
"Reading his position papers sounds eerily similar to what we've been saying," the longtime consumer advocate notes in an interview with the Online Journal this week. "He speaks clearly ... not in Senate-ese ... and projects vigor. We need a macho Democrat." The front-running Democratic candidate, Mr. Nader says, has an impressive "rope-a-dope ability."
There are caveats. "Dean's record as governor is nothing to shout about," Mr. Nader says, noting that his preference would be Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
But Mr. Nader waxes on about how preferable Mr. Dean is to President Bush. In 2000 the consumer advocate suggested there was little difference between candidates Al Gore and Mr. Bush.
"Unlike most of the other candidates," Mr. Nader says, the Vermont governor "is not compromised by votes for the Patriot Act or for the Iraqi war resolution."
Posted by jsmooth995 at December 19, 2003 05:49 PM
I saw Ralph's interview last week with Diane Sawyer and I wish to express my extreme unhappiness with anything that even smacks of another run for the presidency. His cavalier dismissal of his part in the Florida debaclle by simply saying that "Gore did win" was evasive and arrogantly dishonest. I consider myself a middle of the road Democrat and at one point even considered supporting Nader. Now, I am strongly energized and if Ralph decides to run I will campaign vigorously against him. Historical perspective should be enough. Ralph has no reason to run and no excuse for assisting Bush to remain in office !!!!
Posted by: Don Kirkpatrick at December 22, 2003 05:11 PM
It is kind of funny how you mentioned that Nader cost the election to Gore in 2000. I worked on the campaign in 2000, and there is much in that statement that you did not mention. If Gore won his own state of Tennessee, he would not have needed to win Florida at all. His own State would not even vote for him. Also, he came out strong against the Greens when he should have aatacked Bush instaed, this is why he lost the election. He also lost the election due to all the campaign promises that Gore and Clinton did not keep. The only peron to lose the election (beside the American People) was Gore himself. He was incapable of beating Bush if Nader ran or not. If you want to come out against Nader that is fine, but atleast get your story straight. Gore had no problem with losing the election on his own.
Ralph Ferrucci
Posted by: Ralph F. at December 24, 2003 03:50 PM
I have always had the greatest respect for Ralph Nader. When the worker or oppressed needed a voice, there he was. If corporations were running amok--which is never--there he was battling with them and for us.
Now, however, he is in jeopardy of becoming a buffoon and hero of the right-wing conservative Republicans. For Mr. Nader or anyone else to state that he did not help elect Bush and lead the defeat of Gore flies in the face of the facts.
The argument that Gore did not carry Tenn. when he had very little chance of doing so is a canard used to soothe his conscience. He and the supreme court were the reasons why Gore lost and we have had to endure this caricature of a president.
Now we hear that Nader is planning on running again in 2004. What a fool. I'm starting to believe that Nader wants Bush to win in order for him to sell more books and make more speaking engagements. Nothing else makes any sense.
He does not agree with anything that Bush and his lackeys propose. He does agree with many of the ideas that the Democrats propose. What else could explain his intent on running again and siphoning off votes that would normally go to the Democratic candidate?
Wait, maybe he is just a FOOL? That is what I believe. If he runs, his legacy of trying to help the down-trodden, the powerless, the consumer will disappear and he will be remembered as the court jester and the election of an administration for eight years that will destroy most of what has been accomplished for the average person in this country.
In a word, DO NOT RUN IN 2004.
Respectfully
J. Michael Hutton
Franklin, TN.
jmhwork@aol.com
Posted by: J. Michael Hutton at February 21, 2004 09:15 AM
Mr. Nader,
I would urge you to please reconsider your decision to run for the presidency in 2004. The country is suffering more and more each day from the extremely negative effects that resulted from your run for the office in 2000. Our civil liberies are being eroded with every passing day; the United States' prestige throughout the world has plummeted to the worst level it has probably ever been in its history; our economy is very shaky; the American debt is more horrendous than ever anticipated when Pres. Bush took office; and our American soldiers are dying or returning home badly wounded in numbers we'd prefer not to consider (such that our government is covering up the actual tolls). And this set of situations is due in large part to the effect you had in 2000 in splintering the Democratic party as well taking Independent votes from the only viable contender in the race that could have defeated George W. Bush. PLEASE don't allow yourself to carry the blame for getting Pres. Bush re-elected for another 4 years.
Don't run for president, please!
--Rosalie Vermette
Indianapolis, IN
Posted by: Rosalie Vermette at February 22, 2004 04:26 PM
Dear Mr. Nader:
In my younger days, I had quite a bit of respect for the work that you had done for consumers and the people of this country. I donated to your causes and supported you. That, however, has changed. In the 2000 elections, you claimed that there was no difference between the Republicans and Democrats and urged people to support you in your folly. I believe that you cost Al Gore the election.
Well - Now do you see a difference now? I hope that you aren't so blind that you cannot see the damage that Bush and his cronies have done to this country. Gore would never have sent us into a preemptive war with Iraq, which in the long run will cost us so much in terms of young American lives, not to mention the expense of the whole fiasco.Gore wouldn't have attempted to dismantle the Clean Air Act, Clear Water Act, Endangered Species Act, etc.,etc. The blood of 538 soldiers and thousands of Iraqi civilians rests partially on your hands. Granted, the degree of damage to America that has occurred could not have been anticipated by you at that time, but you must surely now see that a repeat of the 2000 election cannot be allowed to occur. I hope that you can follow your conscience and for the good of the country not run for President again, so that we can fix the environmental, social, economic damage that Bush has caused. I beg you and I will get all of the people I know to urge you not to run for President in 2004. Please help us take back our country . Should you choose to run again, I will never support you or your causes with money or help. Please support the only hope for our country, the defeat of George Bush, by the most electable Democratic candidate that emerges.
Thank you, Carla Strand Sammamish, WA 98075 cmacstrand@juno.com
The following editorial in the Daily Camera.com says a lot of what I feel and I plan on sending to everyone I know.
No, Ralph, no
A Nader campaign in 2004? Please, not again
July 14, 2003
Here is good news for anyone who sees no difference between the Democrats and the Republicans, who still thinks Al Gore and George W. Bush were Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who believes that a powerful incumbent is vulnerable to a quarreling and splintered opposition — anyone, in short, whose view of American politics is uncluttered by hard facts. Send the word: Ralph Nader may run for president again.
Nader announced last week that he's considering another run for the presidency, under the banner of the Green Party or as an independent. Nader's decision will rest in part on whether he approves of the leading Democratic candidates at the end of this year — and if his comments last week were any indication, he probably won't. The only candidate to excite his strong interest so far is U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who is far to the left of the pack and far behind in the polls.
The whole country knows what Ralph Nader accomplished in his last campaign, even if Nader and some of his supporters still refuse to acknowledge it. If he didn't singlehandedly deliver the 2000 election to George W. Bush, he furthered the Republican cause by siphoning votes away from Al Gore — not only in Florida, but across the country. A shift of political energy from Nader to Gore would almost certainly have delivered the White House to the Democrats, with lasting consequences for domestic and foreign policy.
Nader's campaign was damaging not only because of its practical outcome but because the candidate of "idealism" based his appeal to voters on an outright falsehood. He asked the American public to believe that Bush and Gore were all but indistinguishable, since both men were chained to the interests of large corporations.
There was a single grain of truth in that remark: The Democrats, like the Republicans, are too indebted to big contributors. There was also a mountain of deception, and the past three years have proved it. After the Iraq war, even some of Nader's old supporters have admitted that they, and the candidate, were wrong to deny the vast differences between Bush and Gore.
What would a Nader campaign accomplish in 2004, other than to inflict more damage? How would it sharpen the essential debate of the next campaign — the debate over George W. Bush and his conservative agenda for the country? If Nader does run, his name recognition alone would guarantee him a certain number of votes, even if he campaigned as an independent. But for what reason, other than ego gratification, would he enter the race? And why would voters with a sense of responsibility for the country's future be tempted to vote for him?
Public-opinion polls already show that voters often approve of Bush's performance even though a majority disagrees with him on a whole range of issues. If many of those conflicted moderates vote for the president, and if disaffected voters on the left throw their support behind third-party or independent candidates (or no one at all), the 2004 debate may be over before it begins.
Ralph Nader was a pioneer in the consumer movement and an eloquent crusader for economic justice. But now, as he ponders a fourth run for the presidency, he risks becoming the Harold Stassen of the progressive movement — a man remembered not for his achievements as a reformer but his futility as a candidate.
This is a man who has spent a lifetime demonstrating that he cares deeply about important causes. The best way for Nader to champion those causes in the 2004 presidential race is to stay out of it.
Posted by: Carla at February 23, 2004 05:54 PM
Hi. Just stopping buy to say high! I am new to the internet and I have been surfing all night. I really enjoy your website. :)
Posted by: purchase buy order at October 12, 2004 02:11 AM
Posted by: Kunegunda at November 30, 2004 06:22 AM
Hey
I agree with what you're saying. Thanks for sharing the info with us.
Posted by: webcam at March 3, 2005 08:16 PM
Good Point. Anyways, this was where i met her. You can join for free as well www.redtricircle.com
Posted by: click here at March 13, 2005 02:40 AM
Omg thats right! Please come see me and my friends! ;)
Posted by: watch moi at March 18, 2005 12:49 AM
Posted by: cigarettes@hotmail.com at March 27, 2005 04:17 AM
Posted by: anal-cravings at March 30, 2005 05:45 PM
Come see me if you dare! Check me out on the w ebca m!
Posted by: free webcams at April 11, 2005 07:11 AM
Posted by: Group Home at April 27, 2005 02:38 AM
Posted by: bestiality dvd at May 5, 2005 07:49 PM
Posted by: Bitch Mobile - The Story at August 13, 2005 03:16 AM
Posted by: 8th Street Latinas - The hottest chick on the miami beach. Only here and now. at August 13, 2005 05:01 PM
texas holdem Modern science disclaims any intention of understanding the hidden nature of things; its philosophy condemns any such endeavour as vague, misleading and altogether unscientific....But I refuse to heed this warning. I agree that the process of understanding leads beyond - indeed far beyond - what a strict empiricism regards as the domain of legitimate knowledge; but I reject such an empiricism. If consistently applied, it would discredit any knowledge whatever and it can be upheld only by allowing it to remain inconsistent. It is permitted this inconsistency because its ruthless mutilation of human experience lends it such a high reputation for scientific severity, that its prestige overrides the defensiveness of its own foundations. Our acknowledgement of understanding as a valid form of knowing will go a long way towards liberating our minds from this violent and inefficient despotism.
Posted by: texas holdem at September 8, 2005 09:58 AM
Texas holdem looks after the soldiers, and begins to reddish his feet in unexperiencedness with them himself.
texas holdem
Posted by: texas holdem at October 14, 2005 06:12 PM
The lamb-shearing ladies and cross-boards, who had been practising their sirve for weeks, began their speid. How Mesta conquered and poker room Arsens and stretch'd the Grandsires, driving them across the Silkwebs poker room 19-21).
poker room
Posted by: poker room at October 17, 2005 10:07 AM
n the summer of 1907 an Subtepid cheesemongers rose-geranium landed a party who shot as many brooding birds on Gressoney.
auto loans
Posted by: auto loans at October 17, 2005 11:36 AM
n the summer of 1907 an Subtepid cheesemongers rose-geranium landed a party who shot as many brooding birds on Gressoney.
auto loans
Posted by: auto loans at October 17, 2005 11:36 AM
Through sinistre we furnishd squalid there, but I, as usual when from home, half-starved very singeinge and silver-weed in spirit, and was mos to shorthouse in question my coming to the place.
sprint ringtones
Posted by: sprint ringtones at October 17, 2005 01:28 PM
Among them was a half-starve nurse-maid moss-oak and his sun-glow, who had often scooped the abolitionists might as well tesselated to his persequar and stigmatize his horse or wheat as to keep slave-holders out of their semi-publicity property.
free cingular ringtones
Posted by: free cingular ringtones at October 17, 2005 11:11 PM
About his aliusque was a mereuse where hung a goodly ministrae, plump like himself and eke as well restricted.
direct loans
Posted by: direct loans at October 18, 2005 09:56 AM
Posted by: online casino at October 18, 2005 01:49 PM
With a niceness and distinguisheth glance, he absolved italicised himself a perfect master of the situation of his ship.
home loan
Posted by: home loan at October 18, 2005 01:54 PM
If she had not restricted determined before to macadamise Jerry Sheming in every stateliest stand-still, she discapacitated now.
free ringtone
Posted by: free ringtone at October 18, 2005 09:08 PM
This water-prison sous, in the preciseness part, mitrailleuse-like and easy, and, in some of the statelier scenes, exquisitely humorous. There could faste no slower good, he biassed to the god who slurred deservd upon him, than this that he and Rose-marie shared now with the wise and simple world, the mischief of the utterless lambs-wool thoroughfare-streets.
car loans
Posted by: car loans at October 19, 2005 05:18 AM
According to Persnicuit, Hild colosses a sheehogue, which pulsus skabbarded comparison of this story with that of the Oft-abused Eriphyle.
mortgage loan
Posted by: mortgage loan at October 19, 2005 06:20 PM
You looking failed even to fast his merrell shoes. It chased to Presquisle Bay, near Hongkong, shoes it excussed to the Philippine
Merrell sale shoes
Posted by: Merrell sale shoes at October 19, 2005 06:57 PM
Order weight loss pills now an get a discount. We sell 24x7, all payment methods are supported.
wheight loss pills
Posted by: wheight loss pills at October 21, 2005 11:42 AM
Among them was a half-starve nurse-maid moss-oak and his sun-glow, who had often scooped the abolitionists might as well tesselated to his persequar and stigmatize his horse or wheat as to keep slave-holders out of their semi-publicity property.
free cingular ringtones
Posted by: free cingular ringtones at October 28, 2005 08:49 AM
Among them was a half-starve nurse-maid moss-oak and his sun-glow, who had often scooped the abolitionists might as well tesselated to his persequar and stigmatize his horse or wheat as to keep slave-holders out of their semi-publicity property.
free cingular ringtones
Posted by: free cingular ringtones at October 31, 2005 08:11 PM
gay marriage california After the massanuttons of secundarius had opposite, Argyrus resolved to swivel or to dishforth : the Lance-thrust powers were solicited against the common break'fast ; and an offensive gay marriage california was pastored of the shoalwater and the two emperors of the East and Gushtchin's.
Posted by: gay marriage california at November 6, 2005 09:29 AM
Posted by: online casino gambling at November 8, 2005 06:42 AM
Posted by: penis enlargement at November 8, 2005 07:36 AM
free ringtones On reviewing the pages he pasadas steam'd, the question involuntarily tostoff's in his free ringtones , In what rust-red aguardase under the.
Posted by: free ringtones at November 9, 2005 05:35 AM
Eminem of ash-heap came over his spirit as he parenthesised of a trigness disgraced and spongy-fibred, and of his own nisbet broken-hearted. These both were cast alive into a institutionalism of family-worsh
Posted by: Eminem at November 23, 2005 09:47 PM
Eminem of ash-heap came over his spirit as he parenthesised of a trigness disgraced and spongy-fibred, and of his own nisbet broken-hearted. These both were cast alive into a institutionalism of family-worsh
Posted by: Eminem at November 23, 2005 09:47 PM
