Ralph Nader is running for President because he "says most Americans are disenchanted with the Democratic and Republican parties, and that none of the presidential contenders are addressing ways to stem corporate crime and Pentagon waste and promote labor rights."
But they are also sick of Ralph Nader, as evidenced by the fact that he couldn't get much of any support in 2000, the Greens rejected him in 2004 and most people with even a little desire for real change wants him to go the hell away.
He ran in 2000 on the same stupid idea, that there was no difference between the parties. The first three days of the Bush administration proved that to be untrue when Bush denied all funding to overseas family planning that even mentioned abortion, backed out of the Kyoto treaty, and rescinded rules regarding levels of arsenic in drinking water.
And usually I don't agree with the Republican line that 9/11 changed everything, but if Nader thinks that the Al Gore (or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama) reaction to 9/11 would have been to attack Iraq, he's a fricking moron.
Not that he's not a fricking moron. I'm withholding judgment, though I'm pretty sure where I come down on this one.
Now, let's face it. Al Gore lost on his own in 2000. He couldn't carry his home state Tennessee and the legal strategy for the Florida recount was idiotic and let the Supremes steal the election.
But even given that, if Ralph Nader had not siphoned off energy, money and votes from Al Gore things would be quite a bit better than they are today.
Would they be great? No. The Democrats are beholden to the corporate interests far too much. And they like "free" trade and rhetoric about tax cuts far too much.
But they'd be a hell of a lot better than under Bush. And with Barack or Hillary in the White House they'll be a hell of a lot better than under John McCain or Mike Huckabee, too.
What Nader totally misses in his myopic egotism is that the Daily Kos community, the netroots, the DfA folks, the grassroots organizers, the kids who walked 7 miles to vote early in Texas there is a group of Democrats that are working their asses off to change the party to fight for the common person, to struggle to improve all lives, to end the reliance on a war economy, and to protect the environment.
And all a run by Ralph Nader does is damage that effort we are all engaged in by pretending that it can't work. All a run by Ralph Nader does is make sure that however hard we work it will come to nothing for many people.
Well, that's not all it does. It also strokes Ralph's humongous ego.