Value Judgment: Nader's In -- Yawn

Value Judgment is a daily weblog written by two independent voters on the eastern seaboard of the United States. VJ will focus on the 2004 U.S. Presidential campaigns, including strategy, tactics, and substance. The authors supported Howard Dean in the Democratic primary. Accordingly, his activities will be a prominent topic on this site.

Mail us:
V at valuejudgment.org or
J at valuejudgment.org

Link to VJ:

February 22, 2004

Nader's In -- Yawn

So, apparently Ralph Nader has announced that he will run as an independent this year. The reaction this elicits in me is a big fat yawn. I have, perhaps foolishly, come to think that he won't really be a factor this year. (Will he even make it onto the ballot in many stateswithout the Green party imprimatur?) Of course, I wasn't really tempted to vote for him last time for the simple reason that I don't think he would be a good President and there's still enough of the 7th-grade civics student in me not to want to 'waste' a vote. Plus, I actually gasp liked Al Gore even better than I'd liked Clinton and I had no qualms voting for Clinton. Anyway, I think how the Democrats handle this will have more of an impact on what kind of effect Nader has on the race than Nader himself. Their choice. We shall see...

Posted by J at February 22, 2004 09:18 PM

Comments

You're right on the money, J -- a yawn, but a nervous yawn, as I really do just dislike Nader, and think that he's doing this thing for the whole ego/spoiler effect.
You're point is a good one, and I wonder why we haven't heard more on it: can he even get on the ballot in most states? I am not too sure. It might be a non-issue.

Posted by: Benjamin at February 23, 2004 09:11 AM

Ralph Nader wants government that puts individuals ahead of special interests. Issues like protecting workers, consumers and the environment or open government may be too dull to attract the attention of the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, but some people think they make a sound basis for voting decisions.

Once upon a time a free press gave voices to men like Thomas Paine and the struggle of individuals against power unjustly concentrated in the hands of the few. In our day, if you dare to defy the two party system you are dismissed from the public commons by thought police who charge you with being quixotic....or worse.

Some people can see no difference between Republican and Democratic politicians and decide not to vote. Ralph Nader wants to give voters a choice beyond the usual political insiders. He offers a rational alternative to the mythology that our two party system can never be questioned.

Posted by: John Schmidt at February 26, 2004 12:19 PM

Issues like protecting workers, consumers and the environment or open government may be too dull to attract the attention of the Democratic Party's presidential candidate

Actually, Howard Dean spoke about these things quite frequently, and John Kerry's environmental record is nothing to sneeze at. But don't let the facts stop you.

In our day, if you dare to defy the two party system you are dismissed from the public commons by thought police who charge you with being quixotic

I would say that this may be somewhat true at the Presidential level, but is not so at the local level, and that leads to my primary frustration with third-party advocates...

He offers a rational alternative to the mythology that our two party system can never be questioned.

You won't find me saying that our two party system can never be questioned. But you will find me questioning that Ralph Nader running for the Presidency in 2004 is a "rational alternative" to that "mythology." It's not. There are better, more effective, and more rational ways to promote these ideas and ideals. Ralph Nader's candidacy this year will not be effective and is definitely not rational.

Posted by: J at March 7, 2004 01:37 PM