> A lot of Greens and other varieties of American leftists don't see
> elections as a path to taking power, but as a way of making a point. As
> I keep saying about Nader's last two runs, if he'd used the runs to
> build the Green party they could have made sense. But if he's just
> "making a point" - which is what he'd be doing with an independent
> candidacy this year - then he'd be better off writing a book.
The efforts by the American left to talk Nader out of running just confirms for me why I don't consider myself to be a leftist. American leftists like their ghetto and will shoot themselves in the foot to maintain their self-righteousness. The American left has little voice in American politics, the recent success of Franken, Moore, etc, notwithstanding. Do people on this really think that Nader would have more influence writing another book than running for President? Has everybody forgotten that the primary form of political theater in this country is TV? Nader has widespread name recognition and has real credibility when it comes to articulating issues of importance to the American left. Sure, those of us on the list know about Nader's ugly side, but who else does the Left have to put into the ring at the presidential circus? What harm will a presidential run by an articulate guy like Nader have on the future of the American left? He's not going to win and he ain't going to build some stupid wingnut party, but he is in a perfect position to monkeywrench the political process and get some radical ideas out there.
Chuck0