Look. I'm not planning on voting for Ralph, barring a truly extra-atrocious campaign by Kerry. All I ask is some respect for the proposition that some upsetting of the apple cart is not necessarily treason, and may even be productive. All I want is for left Democrats to pipe down and admit that it isn't insane and murderous to like Ralph Nader and his candidacy. I'm not even asking you to do what seems natural to me -- applaud Ralph until October, then ask him to quit, again barring a truly extra-atrocious output from the Kerrybot.
As to Ralph having "absolutely nothing to do" with the establishment of a third party, I think that's simply false. Nader's trying to show that campaigning to the left of the DP can be meaningful, and might even produce a big constituency, if it can ever find a way to garner TV time. He's also trying to break the debate monopoly, which has a great deal to do with the viability of third parties, does it not?
You might think these aspects of his campaign are not enough to make it right and good for him to run, but somebody as smart as Doug Henwood can't seriously contend that they have "absolutely nothing" to do with the future of third parties, can he?