If The independent party gets such a percentage of the votes (13%?) do they get campaign money next election? I'm not quite sure if thats the case or not.
Nader for pres is a bad thing, the idea though to get that percentage so the independents can get our governments money to help in upcoming elections cant hurt. Unless Nader actually won. He's not even on the ballot here in Ohio. Hows that for fair play. I was really strong on the democratic side until they stepped in and got him of Ohio's ballot. That was wrong. It made me feel like the Kerry campaign is not confident. It comes down to this, the lesser of two evils is still evil.
I've watched all the debates so far and now I really am undecided. Nader may have at least made the debates a bit more enjoyable to watch, if prefer comedy over tragedy.
Decision: Nader for President
32I saw a rather slapdash interview with Mr. Unsafe-at-any-Speed last weekend, in which he claimed that he is not going to detract from the Democratic vote because poll data show that Nader supporters are split evenly between would-be Bush voters and would-be Kerry voters. Again, this is his claim, of which I am in no position to assess the validity.
He did express something of an opinion that it is important to remove the Bush administration from office, and did not claim that the democrats would be "just as bad", a tactic he used in 2000. He did claim that they were equally corporate, but I believe he expressed a sentiment that Bush is worse than Kerry.
It is my opinion that he is hanging in there so his endeavor does not die. I can only hope that he will pull out of the election at the last minute because there is no way in hell he is going to get enough votes to qualify for matching funds in the next race, which I am sure he knows. In 2000 he thought he had a shot at that percentage of the vote, but not this time around. But I can only hope.
He did express something of an opinion that it is important to remove the Bush administration from office, and did not claim that the democrats would be "just as bad", a tactic he used in 2000. He did claim that they were equally corporate, but I believe he expressed a sentiment that Bush is worse than Kerry.
It is my opinion that he is hanging in there so his endeavor does not die. I can only hope that he will pull out of the election at the last minute because there is no way in hell he is going to get enough votes to qualify for matching funds in the next race, which I am sure he knows. In 2000 he thought he had a shot at that percentage of the vote, but not this time around. But I can only hope.
Last edited by gio_Archive on Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Decision: Nader for President
33by the way, if Nader pulled out just before the election and threw his support full-force behind Kerry, it would certainly tip the scales.
yup, i'm a dreamer.
yup, i'm a dreamer.
Decision: Nader for President
34i dont really think its right to vote for someone you dont like just to get the other person you dont like out of office, but i also think that that line of thought is pretty idealistic. but voting to support a 3rd party the best way i think i can seems pretty practical.
crap idea?
I think it would be crap to vote tactically against a politician you really believe in, but then again I've never been in that position: voting has always been about east bad options for me.
But what I don't get is howNaderites can still admire the man given what he is doing. There is nothing to recommend his standing except his raving ego. None of his name backers from 2000 still backs him. The Nader campaign has no chance of influencing the Democrats to a more Naderite position, because they clearly think they lose far more by accomodating Nader than they could ever hope to win. His justification for standing in the 2000 race despite the boost this gave the right was that the campaign was building the Green party: but he's not standing for the Green party now. And on the one issue Nader cares most about; the corrupting influence of business on politics, I cannot believe that he sees no difference between the two main parties.
I thought voting for Nader in 2000 was a mistake, but it was a mistake I could respect. I can't respect voting for him now.
Decision: Nader for President
35Nader was kicked off the ballot in Pennsylvania (my home state)!
Pennsylvania court struck Ralph Nader's name from the state's ballot yesterday, declaring that nearly two-thirds of the signatures on his nominating petitions were invalid or had been forged in what the court called an unparalleled case of election fraud.
The decision, if upheld, could significantly change the equation in Pennsylvania, a swing state with 21 electoral votes. Polls show President Bush and Senator John Kerry in a dead heat, with Mr. Nader attracting about 3 percent of the electorate there. Republicans were helping him in the hope he would take votes from Mr. Kerry.. Democrats had led the challenge to the Nader signatures.
"I am compelled to emphasize that this signature-gathering process was the most deceitful and fraudulent exercise ever perpetrated upon this court," wrote James G. Colins, the president judge of the Commonwealth Court, who noted that he had served longer, and reviewed more nominating papers, than any judge in the court's history.
The Nader campaign said it would appeal the decision to the state's Supreme Court.
Judge Colins said the conduct of the Nader campaign "shocks the conscience of the court."
He said, "In reviewing signatures, it became apparent that in addition to signing names such as Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone, John Kerry and the ubiquitous Ralph Nader, there were thousands of names that were created at random and then randomly assigned either existent or nonexistent addresses by the circulators."
Decision: Nader for President
36Bill Maher caught him in a pretty interesting trap-if David Duke were the Republican, he said that he woud drop out. That means that he just doesn't think George Bush is that bad. That's crap.
Not to mention, last go round he had some pretty scary positions regarding media. They aren't on his site anymore, but it sounded like he was pretty much for censorship. That left a very sour taste in my mouth.
Not to mention, last go round he had some pretty scary positions regarding media. They aren't on his site anymore, but it sounded like he was pretty much for censorship. That left a very sour taste in my mouth.
Decision: Nader for President
38drew patrick wrote:Ralph Nader just announced his 2008 candidacy on Meet the Press.
He is a good man, but this news is a joke.