"Feelings"? Geez, if I had any of those, I would have left LBO long ago :)
>Are those "irrelevant partisan games" you're referring to the bit about the
>votes not mattering since the difference between the parties is so slight
to
>many here? Nathan, that doesn't mean people were neccessarily blase about
>the vote theft, intimidation, etc.; they probably saw a bigger picture
>wherein the lack of any theft would have brought in a president who might
>just have done exactly what Bush has done already.
Aside from pissing off those who have suffered under Bush where they know they would not have under Gore-- and I'll make the list from the union side if you want-- the point was that people on this list ignored the whole ripping Florida scandal for weeks before they recognized the extraordinary combination of manipulated voter rolls, fucked up voting machines and ballots, and trying to shut down the recount of predominantly black districts.
>As for Nader, though I agree it would have been a good thing, maybe even
>"the right" thing, had he supported Gore in that regard, or even raised a
>ruckus of his own, paralelling Gore's, what was he supposed to do?
He didn't have to come out for Gore. He had to come out for an honest count of votes that had been cast in good faith and were being thrown in the garbage by rightwing Republicans. That he didn't -- unlike some supporters like Michael Moore -- is one reason the bitterness against Nader was even greater. And at the time, I suggested that he at least use the opportunity to highlight the issue of Instant Runoof Voting, but he missed that opportunity. Having thrown the election to Bush, he failed to grab the media spotlight to highlight Green issues that was supposedly the point of running in a Presidential race. At some level it was just bizarre, stupid and irresponsible on his part.
-- Nathan Newman