>What bothers me
>is that all the organizational energy of Green or other third party
>activists goes only to those general election campaigns, while bypassing
>the real opportunity to elect people in the primary.
It's inconceivable that Nader could have defeated Gore in the primaries. The money-people decide who will get the nomination before the primaries begin. This is true of both parties. Just look what happened to McCain, who should have easily wiped out Bush in the primaries. Nothing has changed since the smoke-filled backroom days except appearances.
Whether you run in the Democratic primaries or against the Democrats in the general election, you're going to lose. But if you run in the general election, you might also force the Democrats to lose, and this will cause them to take notice. Next time around, they will think twice before running a rightwing candidate for President. If they still fail to see the light, they should be replaced by another party.
>If Nader had run in
>the Democratic primary, I would not only have voted for him, I would have
>been out there campaigning for him.
When a candidate works within the Party, you support him. But when he threatens the Party, you turn against him. Instead of rationally appraising the best method of moving politics to the left, you blindly follow your group-identification. You're letting your ego do your thinking for you.
As Brett Knowlton asked, how far does the Democratic Party have to sink before you abandon it?
>I know, you will say IF labor and other liberal/progressive groups
>supported Nader, his campaign would be different, but the point is that
>they are not seriously supporting him. And they are not supporting him
>because Dubya and his Supreme Court appointments and his willingness to
>sign any crap promoted by Trent Lott is too dangerous.
This is very revealing. There are two elements in the narcissistic universe: Authority and security. In your mind, the Democratic Party represents authority and thus can never be questioned, for this would sacrifice security. The narcissistic ego is dominant in the United States, particularly among "middle class" white men, and it's the reason so many liberals became virulent anti-communists during the Cold War. Anything which threatens authority must be opposed.
Ted