I was just wondering what everyone thinks about Nader in the presidential mix? I am not oo thrilled with him, but not for the reasons that some democrats have. He is blamed for Gore’s loss, I hold no grudge on that matter. I, however, have a problem with him because of his constant running for office. While I hold must of his issues close to my heart, I do not like the fact that he seems to be a perpetual candidate. But in the years between the elections he has little to say. But then he revs up and all hell breaks lose.
I would like my candidate to be there even in the “off season’ fighting for the progressive agenda, not just show up every 4 years and spout some left leaning agenda and expect people like me to support him. Nader does have a wide range of progressive stands and some are very appealing, but I just have a hard time throwing my support in his direction.
I would like to hear others thoughts about his candidacy.
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There’s a lot I really like about Ralph Nader, and at some point I’d like to see the recent documentary about him, which is supposed to be outstanding. He’s done a tremendous amount of groundwork for consumer advocacy, and hopefully that will remain his primary legacy once everything’s said and done.
But where has he been for the last four years (much less the last eight years)? If you want to position yourself as a serious candidate, you have to remain a strong, relevant player in the public arena, and I’m hard pressed to think of anything he’s done recently. I totally understand that he doesn’t have the megaphone that corporate-backed candidates have, but that didn’t stop him in the 70s and 80s from becoming a powerful figure.
Is it possible that ‘off season’ coverage of folks like Ralph has decreased dramatically, just as investigative journalism or the same sort has dropped off? My guess is that Ralph’s kept at it, just without the megaphone he used to have.
a progressive agenda, he would have run for The House, or the State office where he lives [Connecticut?].
His repeated insistence on making a spectacle of himself, and deliberately making accusations and distinctions which damage chances of a progressive/liberal agendas to be forwarded inside the Democratic Party show it’s all about his enormous ego, more than anything else.
Too bad. He could have helped build progressivism from the ground up, rather than making a fool of himself [and smearing progressives as well in the process] from the top down.
Damn shame.
No point in voting for one of the two major parties that have delivered a major war in every generation, institutionalized poverty, and failed to create a national health care system. They’ve had generations to get it right, and all they give us are the same empty promises and corruption.
Time for politics for grown-ups.
He is so ego driven he does way more harm than good. Not to thrash the dead horse too thoroughly, but what he did in 2000 is inexcusable to me. Granted that his views were reflected by a good number of people and that he was trying to get a third party registration on the ballots around the country, he totally overplayed his hand.
A month, month and a half before the elections he should have made a big deal out of withdrawing and asking his supporters to vote for Gore. And then get out and actively campaign for Gore, with enthusiasm.
Instead we have cheney/bush.
’nuff said
Ralph Nader does appear to drop off the face of the planet in between presidential election cycles. I say ‘appear to’, because it seems that it is only during the aforementioned cycles that anyone pays attention to the man’s activities.
Here’s a list of books written by Nader since 2000, with the years of their publication:
Crashing the Party (2002)
The Good Fight: Declare Your Independency and Close the Democracy Gap. Paperback ed. Harper Collins Pub., 2004
“The Seventeen Traditions” Regan Books, 2007. ISBN 0061238279
And op-eds he’s written.
http://www.boston.com/news/glo…
http://www.nader.org/template….
http://www.arabamericannews.co…
http://www.commondreams.org/vi…