Get Out, Mr. Nader

[bearfartinthewoods]

You're only fueling defeatism--and you defeated my father.
BY KARENNA GORE SCHIFF
Saturday, February 28, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST

Watching Ralph Nader declare his candidacy was like having a terrible flashback. Oh no--not this again! I'm not saying we should muzzle independent voices or rule out third parties. Mr. Nader has a right to run for president. And I have a right to say, What an awful idea.

In 2000, Mr. Nader's shrill mantra was "Republicrat," that there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the two nominees. That claim was dead wrong in 2000 and is ludicrous in 2004. Since George W. Bush took office, a budget surplus of $230 billion has become a deficit of $521 billion, 2.7 million jobs have been lost, clean air standards have been weakened, civil liberties have been trampled, long-time allies have come to mistrust us, and we've spent $150 billion and almost 600 lives in a war to protect us from weapons that didn't exist. Given the extremism of Mr. Bush's first term, imagine what a lame duck Bush would do.

In his Monday press conference, Mr. Nader said he expected to draw the majority of his voters from defecting Bush supporters. That's certainly not what happened last time--and it defies reason that it would be the case this year. According to the New York Times, exit polling showed that without Mr. Nader on the ballot, 45% of his voters would have gone for Al Gore, 27% for Mr. Bush, and the rest would have stayed home. In both Florida and New Hampshire, Mr. Nader's vote total significantly exceeded the margin by which Mr. Bush secured the electoral votes.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110004752

[demnan]

1. Kareena is wrong to blame Nader totally

but I understand. Al is her father. I won't argue the point as it has been argued at naseum. The more important question becomes, what is Kareena going to do to start her political career? I suggest she's not going to find much help in the Wall Street Journal. They are on the other side and are laughing at keeping the Nader Democratic party feud going.

Why doesn't she run for something?

[Sly Kal]

11. she doesn't blame him totally

Where does she say the fault is his alone? The article just happens to be about Nader not vote fraud. Nader had a goal and he achieved it in 2000. We will see about 2004. My guess is that without the support of the Green party he will get a much smaller vote than he did in 2000.

[DennisReveni]

2. Once again they forget

"In both Florida and New Hampshire, Mr. Nader's vote total significantly exceeded the margin by which Mr. Bush secured the electoral votes."

250k registered Democrats voted for Bush in FLA 2000, 1.1 million gays voted for Bush in 2000. That is a far greater problem than Nader.
Someone should also tell Karenna that her fathers endorsement of Dean is now considered the kiss of death.
Ted Rall makes an important point with this toon,
http://www.msnbc.com/comics/editorial_content.asp?sFile=tr040228.
Democrats will have to offer something other than ABB (actually Any Democrat But Bush). At some point in time people will start asking, what are you offering other than tired old rhetoric and empty slogans.

[dsc]

4. Why do only gays get mentioned?

Close to 1/3 of those who are functionally pro choice, including close to 1/4 of those who favor abortion in all instances voted for Bush. Yet only gays get beat up for this. Why?

[Sly Kal]

10. Gore's endorsement of Dean brought 30k supporters

In the 24 hours after Gore's endorsement 30k new people signed up at deanforamerica. Tedd Rall doesn't say make the point that you claim thought the media would love to pin something new on Gore I am sure.

[OhioStateProgressive]

3. who cares what she thinks?

She is only where she is because of her father anyways, and her 'he beat my daddy' is about as pathetic as most of GWB's vendettas against those who 'beat his daddy'

[dad]

5. Thanks for running, Nader

You're already supporting things that the republicrats won't touch. 100% behind the gay marriage thing... it's just the right thing to do.

[John_H]

14. I thought I heard a freeper say the same thing today, except with all

those teeth missing, he might have said, "I'm 100 percent behind my cousin Elmer."

[ludwigb]

6. Great article

Nader's contibutions to cyncism among the populace and especially young people is an underrated argument against him.

[AVID]

7. i agree luwig

[WesternPADem]

8. ... and don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Mr. Nadar,

You once were a hero of mine, but that was before your ego trumpted your common sense and you did not pull out before the 2000 election and endorse Al Gore. Anyone who now thinks there was no difference b/n Gore and Bush must be living on another planet. 500 votes made the difference in Florida--you reaped 90K+ votes there. In the words of the Senator Byrd before the Iraq war vote: "Sober Up!"

Begone, Ralph, Begone.

-- A Clark Democrat in Pittsburgh

[tryanhas]

9. Ralph Nader ran in 1996...

...Bill Clinton won.

Ralph Nader ran in 2000...

...Gore was so stiff and boring and aloof (sound familiar) that he made the race close enough for the GOP to steal it.

If Kerry is the nominee, Nader could quite possibly give the election to Bush, like he did with Gore.

If Edwards is the nominee, he will win, regardless of whether Nader runs or not, just like Clinton did.

It's silly for Democrats to put themselves in a box by nominating John "EVERYTHING HAS TO GO PERFECT FOR ME TO WIN" Kerry, when they could nominate Edwards who has a larger margin of error because he appeals to more voters and he can win in any region of the country, including states like North Carolina WHERE THERE ARE NOT MACHINES THAT CAN BE HACKED TO STEAL THE ELECTION.

KERRY IS NOT GUARANTEED TO WIN EVERY STATE THAT GORE WON IN 2000, DUH!!!

It's complete nonsense for people here to always start a conversation with, "what states can Kerry win that Gore didn't," as if the states that Gore won are guaranteed for him.

Why not ask, if he can win all of the states that Gore won first, because that's not guranteed.

Edwards has more room for error in a general election than Kerry does.

Everything has to go right for Kerry to win, and DON'T COUNT ON EVERYTHING GOING RIGHT, duh...

[RichM]

12. Karenna's absence from the news was the one hidden virtue of Selection

2000. I was worried, in the runup to the election, that if Gore won, we'd always be seeing her pushy assertive personality on TV.

[JI7]

13. i didn't see her as pushy

i thought she did a good job of campaigning for her dad.