Nader and Naderism

Well as I predicted last week, Saint Ralph jumped into the presidential race as an independent.
The media will hype this heavily for the four weeks and murmur darkly about how this adversely affects the democrats.
Then they will move on....ho hum same old same old.
In truth there was little anyone could do about preventing Ralph from running again-sheer morbid ego propels him into the race.
For the last four years Nader has demonstrated time and again the willfulness of a sociopath when absolving himself of the 2000 debacle.
What I think the democrats have done right these last four years is delineating the diresome consequences of voting for a spoiler candidate like Ralph in a close election.
Sometimes this dialogue with the Greens and other Nader supporters has been quite harsh, that is to be regretted.
However the point has been made that in a national crisis, Nader-esque candidacies are a luxury American liberals cannot afford.
As a consequence of this, it is unlikely Nader will garner the same level of support this time around.
This is the best we can hope for quite frankly...2004 is supposed to be close election and Nader can still make a difference depending on his own whims and fancies...but at least this time we are prepared for any eventuality.
Other than that all we can do is engage in a positive fashion with the Nader supporters on the street and hope for the best.
If John Kerry was smart though, he'd use the Nader candidacy to cast himself as closer to the center than either George or Ralph.
He has already denounced the President's program as "revolutionary" in nature...now with Nader in the race he can highlight his own proposals as being inherently more sensible.
Well it is a thought anyway.