Nader in the race

[Strangefolkphan]

Are there any other Greens or Nader fans here? Today he announced that he's going to run as an Independent.

I am pretty conflicted about this. I voted in two-thousand on the issues that matter to me, and those issues happened to be addressed by the Green agenda. However, this time, I am afraid of taking votes away from the dems (oh, if my green friends could hear me now). I love Nader and everything he stands for, but I want Bush out! Personally, I think Edwards is the most electable. I guess I am falling for the ABB (anybody but Bush) propaganda.

Any thoughts? Did anybody else vote for Nader and is now thinking about voting for someone else next election?

I guess I have a few months to mull this over.

:peace and :love,

Christine
I guess I have a few months to mull this over.

[Solène]

Good post - it will be interesting to see some differing views on Nader. I'd need to do some research before throwing out my (currently uneducated) opinion.

My unrelated and sort of snotty question though: Does anyone think that this guy has way too much $$$ if he can run for president like eight times?

:ummm :ohboy

[ribbon]

I am soooo :reallymad that he's running. If he hadn't won last time Gore would be president and we might not have gone to war. He said on Meet the Press that he was running to get GWB out of office, but if that's true I think he would stay out of the race and maybe appeal to be Kerry's running mate. I like Edwards the best of the remaining democratic canditates but he's got a lot of catching up to do.

[Talihar]

Exactly, Ribbon! By Nader running, he siphons votes off from the other candidates and as we saw in the last presidential election, that can really have a significant impact on the outcome. Had he not been in that last presidential race, chances are that many who voted for him would have voted for Gore and there would have been a much different result, regardless of the Florida chad fiasco...

Talihar

[Strangefolkphan]

For me, it was Nader in two-thousand or no-one. I wouldn't have voted, and I think many others were the same way. We didn't take votes away from Gore, we never would have voted in the first place. Nader truly got me involved in politics.

In my opinion, Gore lost the vote by not even winning his home state and sounding exactly like Bush. I agree with Nader's view that the democrats have moved to the right. There is no choice in elections. Why is it either republicans or democrats? What if I don't like what either of them are doing? Why isn't there a third-party options? There does need to be changes made in our electoral system. But, I want Bush out as much as some of you. And I think I'll be willing to compromise my beliefs by voting for a democrat. I can only hope it's Edwards, not Kerry. Edwards is a little more left-leaning than Kerry.

I don't regret voting for Nader in two-thousand. I would vote for him again if I weren't so terrified of Bush getting re-elected. Although my state's three elctoral votes usually go to democrats anyway. They went to Gore last election. In essence, I voted for Gore.

Solène~ Nader rents a room in D.C., takes a cab, and gives as much money as you allowed in donations every year. He gets the money to run campaigns from the people who support him. He does not accept money from corporations or lobbyists. He only ran on eight million in two-thousand. That's pennies compared to the republicans and democratic candadites. That's pretty impressive to me.

:peace and :love,

Christine

[Solène]

Solène~ Nader rents a room in D.C., takes a cab, and gives as much money as you allowed in donations every year. He gets the money to run campaigns from the people who support him. He does not accept money from corporations or lobbyists. He only ran on eight million in two-thousand. That's pennies compared to the republicans and democratic candadites. That's pretty impressive to me.

Good to know Christine - like I said, my opinion on him is currently uninformed... my comment was my immediate reaction to the whole thing, and like I said, I knew it was a snotty question. :cute

I agree w/ you - the more choices, the better. I understand the whole political game of one candidate taking votes from another party and all that - but in principle, the American people deserve as many options as possible. Politics aside (which I know is a joke, btw) I think it's much more democratic this way. It was SO FRUSTRATING in two thousand to have to choose btwn only Gore and Bush. I detested both of them immensely. For me, at the time, Bush was the lesser evil... (no comment on that one at this point):ohboy but still, I wish I'd had another option.

[Catherose]

Strangefolkphan said: In my opinion, Gore lost the vote by not even winning his home state and sounding exactly like Bush. I agree with Nader's view that the democrats have moved to the right. There is no choice in elections. Why is it either republicans or democrats? What if I don't like what either of them are doing? Why isn't there a third-party options? There does need to be changes made in our electoral system.

I totally agree with you. I'm a huge Nader fan... I've seen him speak a few times and got to meet him once.:supergrin I definitely do not regret voting for him in two thousand one. Gore won my state (California) anyway... as I imagine he actually won many of the states with a sizable Green party, since those states tend to have even larger numbers of Democrats. I passionately hate the electoral college... it's so outdated, and turns the election into a game of strategy (or is that "strategery?":sarcasm) rather than just letting us vote.
This year, I think I'm going to vote Democrat even though I'm becoming less and less of a fan of the Democratic party. I want to get the Republicans out of power more than I want to stay true to my ideals at this point, and after Californians elected a Republican governor, I'm going to be a little more cautious with my vote.

[Strangefolkphan]

Solène said: Good to know Christine - like I said, my opinion on him is currently uninformed... my comment was my immediate reaction to the whole thing, and like I said, I knew it was a snotty question. :cute

I don't think it was a snotty question, but a valid question. If you don't know, ask :happy

Catherose, I went to Nader rallies in NYC and DC and I saw him speak last year at the University of Delaware.

:peace and :love,

Christine