Marta
Nathan Newman wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marta Russell" <ap888 at lafn.org>
>
> -California was not a swing state. Gore had a wide margin here.
> -marta
>
> Which proves my point that even Nader supporters in safe states were
> alienated by his campaigning in swing states and his dismissal of concerns
> over Roe v. Wade.
>
> Nader supporters act as if voters are all a bunch of mindless pawns - Dem
> supporters being stupid masochists and now even potential Nader supporters
> mindless victims of "liberal Dem" propaganda.
>
> Nader screwed up in his last weeks of campaigning. He alienated not only
> Democratic allies but alienated his own base of potential supporters. And
> the result was he lost his chance to get the 5% of the vote.
>
> I agree Gore blew his campaign by being a bad candidate. Nader didn't make
> Gore such an obnoxious and weak candidate. Absolutely true.
>
> But Nader supporters have got to recognize that Gore and liberal Dems didn't
> "steal" Nader votes either. Nader lost those votes by ignoring their
> concerns and alienating them by campaigning in swing states.
>
> -- Nathan Newman
>
> Nathan Newman wrote:
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Marta Russell" <ap888 at lafn.org>
> > To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
> >
> > >Nader would have gotten more votes if those intending to vote for him had
> > >been "freed" to do so by the Democratic party liberals who have been
> guilt
> > >tripping every Dem who wanted to vote Nader for weeks. For instance in
> CA
> > >Nader was up to 7-8 percent in the polls but when people actually voted
> the
> > >support dropped to 4 percent.
> > >I think people who where coerced into voting for Gore made a big mistake
> by
> > >caving -- they cost the Greens the loss of federal funds.
> >
> > I know a lot of folks, like myself, who would have voted Nader if the
> Nader
> > supporters were not attacking other progressives and if Nader had not
> > campaigned in the swing states the week before the election. If Nader had
> > chosen to campaign hard in "free states" a la the Molly Ivins strategy, he
>
> > would have done two things - increased votes in those states and not
> > alienated folks in those states. On election day, here in safe
> Connecticut,
> > I had meant to vote for David McReynolds but found that he was not
> certified
> > for write-in, so I almost voted for Nader but was pissed off about the
> swing
> > state campaigning, so voted for Gore. Since then, I have talked to a
> bunch
> > of others who were planning to vote for Nader, but ended up voting for
> Gore
> > for the same reasons.
> >
> > There was a large panel today with students discussing the election.
> These
> > were overwhelmingly liberal students, most of whom would normally love
> > Nader. But when Nader's name was mentioned in the introduction,
> spontaneous
> > hissing broke out from around the room.
> >
> > Nader made the choice to campaign in the last week in swing states rather
> > than in states like Texas or Connecticut. Yes, the voters in the swing
> > states collapsed for fear of Bush, but what is remarkable is how poorly
> > Nader did in safe states like Connecticut. That collapse is Nader's own
> > fault, not the fault of the liberal Dems.
> >
> > Nader cost himself federal funds by alienating voters in safe states.
> >
> > -- Nathan Newman
-- Marta Russell author, Los Angeles, CA http://disweb.org/ Beyond Ramps: Disability at the End of the Social Contract http://www.commoncouragepress.com/russell_ramps.html