> But I don't feel that the argument to vote for Nader rather than cast a
> blank ballot (voting for Gore being out of the question) is a
> self-evident choice.
C-span ran the Green Party convention this Sunday, and everyone from Jello Biafra to Jim Hightower pitched in with three dominant themes: (1) global capitalism sucks, (2) global capitalism is trashing the planet, and (3) it's time to do something about it. Over and over again, you heard concrete facts about corporate power, falling real wages, child poverty, wealth polarization, the need for universal health care. The energy, enthusiasm, determination and hard-edged critical thinking I saw there was amazing. In short, we have the material here for a genuine Resistance to the cretinous rule of Wall Street.
So Nader isn't perfect. Horrors! I could quibble with his position about culture (he criticized children's cartoons for being too violent at one point, a red herring in my book), but since I agree with 95% of his politics, I'm willing to let minor points of contention remain just that. The real issue is building a mass Left party in the US, in coalition with the Labor Party folks; the Nader campaign is just a tool to do this, and Ralph, to his credit, knows this.
-- Dennis