Who here at DU supports Nader?

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

Just wondering

[Iverson]

1. somewhere between few and none

However, there are those who denounce him with insufficient zeal. They are "the enemy."
Destroy the unclean sinners, amen.

[Luvpurp]

2. I love his message

and if there was a chance in Hades that he could win I would support him. But unlike Ralph, I have to be a grown up and that means supporting the Dem nominee. I really wish we could hear Kerry and Edwards speak to the issues that Nader does, but unfortunately that is not the political reality.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

6. Wasn't Kucinich's message similar to Mr Ego's?

[Wickerman]

3. I support his right to

exist.

[Renew Deal]

5. I don't

j/k

[daveskilt]

4. I support nader - I wont vote for him though

I support his right to run. I support many of his platforms. I even support his assertion that he wants to get bush out and thinks he can do that better in the race (lets hope he looks closely at polls and sees whether he is pulling repub or dem support most and pulls out if he is pulling more dems or repubs who may vote dem if he wasnt in there)

but I wont vote for him.

[deutsey]

8. Me too

I will not vote for him, but when I listen to what he says (and not what people tell me he says), I agree with most of his message.

I also agree with what leftist historian Michael Parenti said yesterday on Democracy Now! when he said despite how much he likes everything Nader says, he won't vote for him in this election.

[alfredo]

7. A big IF

An aquaintance who knows him says that when the election nears he will drop out and ask his supporters to vote for the Dem candidate. If he is correct, then yes I support Nader's run.

My aquaintance is a long time human rights activist and good Democrat.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

10. That sounds great but...

I can't help thinking he's a repub operative. I just can't help it

[WyLoochka]

17. He's not a repub operative

He's just flat out wrong in how to go about countering the repubs success at moving the whole country way to the right of where it was when he first started as a consumer advocate.

We will accomplish nothing by turning our backs on the Dem Party and leaving it to Al From and his insider crew of corporate boot lickers. The Dem Party is the vehicle we need to control in order to take our country back from the right wingers. Dems need to stay in the party and keep doing battle with FromCo. We will eventually succeed if we keep the heat on these odious corpo whores.

Nader missed the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the battle for the Dem Party when he didn't go all out to support Kucinich, just as he missed the opportunity to make a positive difference in '00 when he didn't run in the primaries as a Democrat.

He did heavy damage in '00. He'll be only a flea bite this time.

[terryg11]

20. agree tht he should have supported Kucinich

both his message and Kucinich's are practically the same and I think Kman has proven he wont be a coporate whore, so Nader should really hve rallied around the man

[Zero Gravitas]

25. He's not a repub operative

He just acts like one.

Of course he has every right to run and people have every right to vote for him. We also have the right to vehemently disagree with those who claim that Nader's running, or that voting for Nader, is "sending a message" to the Dem party or is have some positive effect on the political climate.

If the Naderites want to change the course of the Dem party they need to get involved at the grass roots level and change the party from the inside out. Unless they are working every day toward that end (or to building a viable third party) they have no right (again IMO) to start whining every four years that they don't like the candidates.

Once the the general election starts there should be no room on the Democratic Underground for calls to vote for anyone other than the Democratic nominee. We don't allow Republicans to come here to argue that we should vote for Chimpy and we shouldn't let Naderites come here and argue that we should vote for Nader The Enabler.

[alfredo]

23. If he is, it will be exposed.

I want to believe him, but the stakes are too high to be trusting.

[bambo53]

9. I don't feel one way or another about HIM personally,

But I like the things he says and I wonder why my party has abandoned these principals. I have yet to hear anyone, on either side, denounce anything he has said as false or a bad idea, just that they hate him.

Instead of hating the man personally, why can't we discuss his issues? And no, I don't plan on voting for him.

[rman]

11. i agree with many of the things he says,

but i fail to see how his candidacy would help the cause to which he pays lip-service.

[rman]

12. unless he's going to tell his followers not to vote for him but for a Dem

-

[adamblast]

13. I *might* (vote for Nader... )

I'm not going to be able to vote for Kerry in good conscience unless he quits playing politics with the gay vote--and fast.

A politician who runs on a platform against gay marriage has already sold me down the river.

It's not my only issue, but it's my #1 issue, with no apologies.

Maybe I'll vote for Gavin Newsom as a write-in. :D

[BillZBubb]

26. So you think four more years of Bush* will help?????

By not supporting the Democratic nominee--whoever he is, you are in effect supporting Bush*.

Do you really think your #1 issue will fair better with a Bush* regime than ANY Democratic president? Ask the Green's who voted for Nader last time if Bush* was better for their #1 issue than Gore would have been.

The Democrat has to handle the gay issue very carefully. It may be playing politics to a certain extent, but it is the price of winning in November.

[alfredo]

28. He's trying to have it both ways. Let's face it, the party will not

allow him to do anything really stupid on the gay rights issue. I agree, the spiritual church wedding is up to the church, but the right to form the legal union of marriage is up to the state. It is about equal protection under the law.

When you get married, you do the church wedding, but then you also sign a legal document for the state. The church ceremony is just that, a ceremony and means nothing much legally other than a verbal contract. That paper you sign after the ceremony is what makes you married.

We must emphasize that throughout our history, amendments to the constitution expanded our rights. This amdendment is a first to take away rights of Americans.

My sister in law is gay. I love her dearly and would give my life for her. Any assault against her human rights is an assault against me.

[Vernunft II]

14. He has alot of good points but I wouldn´t vote for him

Not this time anyways.

[marie123]

15. I am voting for nader

I will not vote for bush and I cannot bring myself to vote for kerry. Makes me sick just thinking about him. I am voting nader unless someone does something to change my mind

The only time I ever voted democrat was in for the 1980 primary

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

19. Question...

Why are you in DEMOCRATIC Underground if you're not a Democrat???

[marie123]

21. why?

because you guys let me.

I came over a couple of months ago upset over my vote of 2000. Yep mine vote was counted!

I am a disgusted republican, not to be confused with a disgusting republican. it is the Mes of this country who will vote for Nader, so not to worry

so Please don't have me locked out as I have nowhere to go. My party has destroyed my life

[Rowdyboy]

22. Sorry, I find it very hard to believe that disgusted Republicans

are going to turn to Nader. That stretches plausibility.

Anyway, once Kerry's officially the nominee, your support of that asshole idiot Nader will get you banned here too.

[marie123]

27. then that is fine

DU can ban me. I didnt let the republicans tell me how to think and I will be damned if I let DU or anyone else tell who to vote for and what to think

[Zero Gravitas]

37. No one is

telling what to think or who to vote for. But we are coming up on a presidential election and the main issue for 99% of DU is to unseat the most reactionary right wing president this country has ever seen. The ONLY way to do that is to support and vote for whoever the Dem nominee is.

We don't let freepers come here and argue we should vote for Chimpy and similarly we are not going to let Naderites come here and argue that we should let Chimpy stay in the White House (aka "vote for Nader") to make some futile point no-one is listening to. To paraphrase Dumbo Jr. if you're not with us you're against us.

[marie123]

39. honey

You vote for whomever you want. I will vote for whomever I want. I will not tell you what to do and please do not tell me what to do.

May the best person win

[Zero Gravitas]

41. I'm not telling you what to do

just explaining why you'll get banned if you are advocating not voting for the Dem nominee on Dem forum.

[RapidCreek]

30. Yea?

Who would they vote for? Kerry or Edwards? :) What about either of these candidates would be most appealing to a disgusted Republican? What about Nader would not?

RC

[marie123]

33. OK your missing our point

our=pissed of republicans

If Clinton had let you down and I know he didn't. Let us just say for the sake of argument that Clinton while in office destroyed your whole being as bush has done to me and others.

Would you have voted for a republican? Would your stomach allow you to vote republican?

However, I could vote for Edwards.

[BillZBubb]

42. Your point?

I can't find a point. The point if to defeat Bush*. You claim he's "destroyed your whole being" yet you won't vote for the ONE person who has a chance to boot his ass to the curb?

Seriously, you have no point.

[RapidCreek]

43. I'm not missing your point at all...

In fact I believe I concur with you. I was asking the folks taking exception with you, the above question.

I get such a charge out of all of them...saying "Nader says what I believe but I won't vote for him because no one else will". Sounds like a self fulfilling prophecy to me. Real independent thinkers...all. So it ain't the right time to vote your conscience, eh? When will be the right time? Ever?

RC

[Odallas]

24. Where do you live?

If your state is one in which the outcome of the election is almost certain, either RED or BLUE, vote your conscious. If the outcome is uncertain and contested, vote to remove bUSH. This is only a suggestion.

[Nlighten1]

16. I support him

I won't vote for him though.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

18. I support

His prompt and painful execution!

[PVnRT]

29. I like what he has to say

but I'm not voting for him in November.

[RapidCreek]

32. So you'll vote for someone who said things you don't like?

That makes sense to me!

RC

[RapidCreek]

31. I support his right to run for president.

Anyone who does not is Un-American.

RC

[corporatewhore]

34. I support his right to run but i like david cobb and kucinich better

[RandomKoolzip]

35. Hey J--h, glad to see you're not on Nader's team!

Party Unity or Party Dissolution in 04...the choice is ours.


Either we make a smaller gain that we had wished for (Kerry)


OR


We lose more than we ever knew we had. (Nader, Bush)

Not an attractive choice, but a crucial one. Fuck Nader and his BFEE backers.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

36. Of course Senor Goulash !!!

It sucks to be in this pickle but it'll suck worse to be in another 4 years of this tyranny!

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. I support any progressive's attempt to run

but my vote will still go to the Dem this time around.

[info being]

40. I support him 100% but probably won't vote for him this year

I'm absolutely DISGUSTED that this system doesn't allow me to vote for candidates who represent me. I will vote Kerry then throw up.

[Marymarg]

44. The stakes are too high

for anyone to throw his/her vote away. To vote for Nader is to risk a Bush win.

For those who think the election is like Burger King where you can "have it your way," it is time to face reality. No candidate is going to be perfect. No candidate is going to be all things to all people. If you despise both candidates, then look at it at the lesser of two evils. But, to think that voting for Nader is going to make a point, or punish someone for your not getting your way is naive and foolhardy.

Remember, with the Presidential winner comes coat tails which means that Congress will have even a larger Repub majority (perhaps filabuster-proof). The President gets to give Executive Orders (which Bush already has abused), and worst of all, he will surely appoint up to three Supreme Court Justices. I hope you like the idea of compulsive (Protestant-Christian)prayer in public schools, statues of the 10 Commandments in government buildings, kissing Roe v Wade goodbye (and probably birth control as well.) If these appeal to you, then you can feel good about your vote for Nader/Bush.:shrug: