The Democratic Party seems to feel it has a divine right to the
votes of progressives, and so focuses all its energy on trying to
be all things to everyone else, at the expense of the values the
party used to represent. It seems perfectly reasonable for someone
else to attempt to either force the Democrats back toward the left,
or replace them with a genuinely liberal party (as has happened to
parties in teh past), which is the long-term goal of a Nader
candidacy.
However, and I say this as someone who voted for Nader last time
for that very reason (don't bother with the "Bush is your fault"
crap; my state went for Gore), a Nader candidacy will backfire in
that if Kerry loses, rather than reassess the direction of the
Democratic Party itself, that party's leadership will have a
convenient scapegoat.
And that is why I wish Nader had chosen to sit this one out.
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