<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2180" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Doug:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>"<FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>What do you mean by "national politics"? The presidency? That seems <BR>hyperambitious for a party that can barely tie its shoes, and has <BR>shown no sign of having grown from a series of presidential runs.</FONT>"</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My difficulty with the anti-Nader criticisms is that they are all couched in technical rather than political terms.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If the Greens are amateurish, does that arise from a political bias, or just not getting their act together?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Doug seems to be saying that he would vote for them if they were plausible, but since not, he's voting for Kerry (who he disagrees with).</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But when you invoke claims like 'not credible' what you are doing is subordinating your thinking to what is credible within the given political arrangments.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It reminds me very much of the British left's psychological inability to break with the Labour Party.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It did not matter from what height the Labour Party shat on them, they carried on regardless.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fear of political isolation outside the party, meant political dissolution inside.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You think that you are making a tactical move to 'get rid of Bush'. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>But even if you succeed</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>you have not 'got rid of Bush' but saddled yourself with Kerry.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It is no good turning around after a Kerry victory to say that you disagree with everything he stands for.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you keep putting of building an alternative, then you will always be a cheerleader for the lesser evil.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I looked back over the LBO debate in 2000.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The list was almost entirely sympathetic to Nader (except me and Nathan), Doug was sceptical, but supportive.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It would be interesting to see if anyone had any political criticisms of Nader, as opposed to arithmetic ones.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML>