as someone who voted for nader twice in the last two contests, i've given up on him entirely and i'm further intrigued that the greens were split on whether or not to nominate him in the first place. to put it simply, what has he done for them lately? or, ever? while he did give them greater visibility over the last two presidential election cycles, that's part and parcel of his demi-celebrity status, amplified by a presidential run. he surely did nothing to advance the cause of greens "on the ground," and notably distanced himself from their platform on a few occasions, memorably his dismissal of gay rights as "gonad politics". brian, i'll leave this one for you!
as i believe doug has wondered aloud on the list, precisely what is ralph running for? to advance an anti-corporate agenda certain to be ignored by everyone in power on a national / state level come 2005? explain to me how there could possibly be any _other_ result. his disposition towards the greens seems to be -- finally, i get to register an opinion on the "race" discussion here -- similar to kerry and the democratic party's strategists' disposition toward racial minorites for time immemorial: where else are you going to go? turns out, the greens don't need ralph as much as he's needed them, and they drew from within. cobb's approach, simultaneously supporting kerry while trying to get the greens agenda as much face time with "likely voters" as possible, demonstrates a serious man in a serious time...i may just vote for him!
yeah, it matters to nader's candidacy, to say nothing of his credibility (peter camejo, this means you, too), when lenora fulani is the only "major" political force still in his corner. i'm taking bets now that ralph won't even match his '96 performance, where he competed with the hell's angels for rightful ownership of the term "one-percenter".
===== ________________________________james keepnews
Art is algebra plus fire.
-- Borges
_____music+writing+webart+multimedia performance
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