I'm mainly a passive subscriber of this list, and as I live in Norway, the US presidential election is pretty far away from my reality. It somehow reminds me of the cartoon show Futurama's 3000 presidential election where the two assumed main candidates are John Jackson and Jack Johnson. When it comes to the world situation, which of the two representatives, each representing one faction of the Party of Capital, the result is irrelevant.
What is interesting, however, is watching the debate between the ABBs and the non-ABBs on the US left. And this comment scares me. It is no suprise that the so-called "Democrats" strive to keep Nader out of the run - he is currently the only candidate who is able to distort the US one-party system. But that "lefties" do so ('cos I assume all participants on this list consider themselves leftist somehow) is more frightening.
OK, Bush is a twat, no question about that. But so is Kerry. He is what a US military analyst, whose name has escaped my mind for the moment, called "a lighter shade of Bush". And what scares me is that so-called "lefties" actually support the "Democrats'" attempt to keep it that way, to keep US presidential elections a choice between two clones - between "Jack Johnson" and "John Jackson". Had this been some other country I wouldn't care, but as US politics influence the rest of the world to the degree it does, I'm scared if this is the attitude of the "left". With this attitude the fundamentals of US politics will remain for sure.
I could also elaborate some on the genuinely undemocratic tone in Mike Larkin's comment - at least in Norway, the left has gotten rid of such undemocratic methods. But I think that is pretty obvious...
-- Mathias
Internet! Is that thing still around?
Homer Simpson