Richard Cohen column: "Run, Ralph, Run." (not an endorsement of Nader)

[Bertha Venation]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A803-2004Feb23.html

Run, Ralph, Run
By Richard Cohen
Tuesday, February 24, 2004; Page A21

"As devoted readers of this column probably know, Ralph Nader calls me from time to time. Sometimes he calls with an idea for a column, and once he called to suggest I retire -- not just me, mind you, but all columnists who have been at it for some time. If that happened, he strongly felt, there would be room on op-ed pages worldwide for him. Nader, you see, is always looking to spread the word.

"Now he is doing more of the same by running for president -- yet again. He made his intentions public on Sunday, declaring to Tim Russert and all the world that he would seek the White House as an independent. A major groan could be heard all over liberaldom. You would think the Pied Piper had returned to Hamelin. Nader will somehow lead the mindless, the gullible and the just plain perverse right to the polling booth, where their votes will hand the election to George W. Bush, by some odd quirk the incumbent.

"This is not going to happen. This time ain't last time. In 2000 Nader may well have cost Al Gore the election. In Florida Bush won by 537 votes and Nader got 97,488. In New Hampshire Bush won by 7,211 votes and Nader got 22,198. Were it not for Ralph, or so the thinking goes, Gore would now be in the Oval Office -- and Bush would be doing makeup drills for the Texas Air National Guard.

<snip>

"I will not vote for Ralph Nader and I'm not happy he's running. He's one of the genuinely important people of our time, someone who can claim to have actually made a difference. This campaign will not enhance his image. But there's a chance that he will enrich the political debate and will, out of the sort of egotism that heretofore was unknown in politics, ask a probing question or two. If he makes a difference, it will be because of the power of his ideas, certainly not his money.

"Run, Ralph, run. Just don't expect me to follow."

I wish I could post the whole thing. I urge you to read it.

[Faygo Kid]

1. Thanks for the post. A good column.

Not sure of Nader's impact this time around, but he will have no trouble raising money from the gilded right wing. They know every dollar spent for Nader is a dollar spent for Bush.