It is amazing to me that the Nader campaign can draw such large crowds for political rallies at $7 a ticket in several cities. It is another sign that "the times they are a-changing".
However I am puzzled that Nader is able to mobilize large numbers of people for rallies but at the same time is in the low single digits in the polls.
Either the pro-Nader vote is being discounted when pollsters screen out "unlikely voters" - (in which case we will see on Election Day whether or not Nader brings a lot of new voters to the voting booths and does better than in the pre-election polls) or Nader voters are simply much more intense in their support and much more likely to turn out for a rally than Gore or Bush voters. Probably both factors are present to some degree.
I have not been involved in the Nader campaign - I am presently working on several union organizing efforts in Florida and am headed back there next week. But perhaps people who have been more involved in electoral efforts in this election may wish to comment on their experience.
-Andy English Twin Cities Labor Party chapter