Understanding Nader
If I were a democrat (OK, bare with me for a moment), I'd be pretty upset with Ralph Nader. Had Nader not run in 2000, Al Gore would likely be president today.
But Nader, who is so far to the left he probably falls off the political platform, seems to be out for ... something. He is running for president again in 2004, and if successful, (as in, gets on the ballots and any percentage of the votes) he will take votes away from John Kerry. Most signs seem to indicate that this race will be close, so Kerry needs every vote he can get.
Now, most of my friends on the left have told me they are "Yellow dog" democrats, meaning, they would vote for a yellow dog if it was a democrat running against Bush.
But Nader sees things differently. He is strongly anti-Bush, but seems to have no qualms taking votes away from John Kerry.
Why would he do this?
Not that I care that much. I am a fairly conservative person who sees John Kerry as too liberal. He will not get my vote in November, and Nader has no bearing on that.
But Nader seems to be content to burn bridges with potential allies again. and I'm not sure why.
I remember watching a 1971 episode of the Mike Douglas show co-hosted by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. One of their guests was Ralph Nader. Nader was talking, and Lennon said to him, "You should run for president."
I wonder if Ralph remembers that. I bet he does.