The Left is supposed to lose. It must proceed by losing to ever greater and better foes. (Plagiarizing Rilke here.) Should it win and attempt to keep winning, it must become the Right. History shows us the dire consequences.
This is especially the case because, as far as I can discern, only a very small minority want to build alternative communities and institutions, the new society in the shell of the old (plagiarizing the IWW). That being the case, there can only be actions of opposition and protest followed by cooptation.
> >meaningful beginnings for creating a kind of operational response to the
> >various problems that plague us.
Brad DeLong:
> Ummm... 3% of the vote is a very *bad* showing for a third-party
> candidate in America. Nader wanted to demonstrate the strength of the
> left without throwing the election to Bush. He failed on both
> counts...
But myth will supervene. For example, the outcome of the election obviously can't be attributed to any single factor, but above you have done so. Expect this repute to be exploited in '02 and '04.