[lbo-talk] Nader and His Detractors

Marvin Gandall marvgandall at rogers.com
Sat Oct 9 20:16:10 PDT 2004


Yoshie writes:


> The nomination of David Cobb rather than endorsement of Ralph Nader
> in 2004 was a setback both for Nader and the Green Party. Compare
> the Green Party's growth between 1998 (128 candidates, 31 victories)
> and 2000 (288 candidates, 47 victories) and its decline between 2002
> (560 candidates, 81 victories) and 2004 (435 candidates, ?
> victories). The Green Party needs to run a strong presidential
> campaign putting a well known presidential candidate on ballots in
> all 50 states 2008, so that it can recover from the setback of 2004.
--------------------------------------- I really don't see how the decision of Nader and Camejo to to run as independents against the wishes of many Greens -- I have no way of knowing wherther they're a majority or a large minority -- and virtually all rank-and-file Democrats furthers the cause of building a third party.

"Name recognition" is much less important than "constituency recognition". The Greens can only grow if rank-and-file Democrats come over to them, and, in politics, that requires patience and sensitivity to the conciousness and needs of those you want to reach, and an understanding of what is possible in the circumstances. In 2004, the Democratic ranks are more determined to win -- for all the other right reasons -- than at any time since the mid-60s, and it has been clear since the last election, that they would perceive a Green candidacy in the closely-contested states as representing the difference between victory and defeat. In this context, and especially since Nader and Camejo can only play the role of freelance spoilers, it is difficult to see how their decision to run in these states can be seen as anything other than sectarian. There's no reason to suppose Nader or (more likely) Camejo will be greeted any more warmly "in 2008" by the people they want to attract if the margin of a Kerry loss is equal to the votes cast their way, than they were following Gore's loss in 2000.

I think I know the counter-argument: the Nader-Camejo decision to split the Green Party and run against the Democrats was absolutely correct on grounds of principle and political clarity, was made regretably necessary by the "liquidation" of the "opportunist" Cobb wing into the Democratic Party, and will lead to the long-awaited historical opening to the left, doubters and naysayers be damned.

Maybe. But I've heard that one before, many times.

MG



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