talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

I can't argue that Ralph Nader doesn't have a right to throw his hat into the presidential ring, but gosh, what's the end goal? What's he really trying to achieve? Nader commands a national audience--his track record as a consumer advocate and corporate gadfly practically guarantee that. So if he wants to attack government waste and corporate influence, he's got an audience.

He says it's about choice, about fighting the tyranny of a two-party system. At one level I understand this concern, and the consequences for political debate and change when the only players are donkeys and elephants. Fine. But if we're thinking in terms of results...a third party candidate who captures just enough of the vote to tip the election, and who knows that going into the race, seems to be nothing more than a spoiler. Nader doesn't like being called a spoiler, but that's what he's been. Being labeled a spoiler only seems to detract from whatever legitimate messages that person is carrying, and seems to entrench the idea in many people's minds that two-party is the way it is/should be.

So what does it boil down to? The other day, I was saying to Terrence that the size of the political ego is truly breathtaking. It has to be, and it probably grows so big because it feeds off delusion. I suggested that if Nader chose to run, I'd be knocked off my feet by the sheer force of his ego taking a deep, sucking breath. (Or, for you Matrix fans, think of that wave of power that shimmies through the Matrix when Neo flexes his muscles in that quasi-Hans-und-Franz way.)

Lo and behold, what's the headline in the New York Times on the web? "Ralph Nader Announces Run for White House." No wonder I woke up with a headache! Here I thought it was the barometric pressure from the storm that's moved in from the Pacific, but instead, I've been battered by a pulsing ego wave! Seems I'm not alone in my assessment of Nader's ego:

"It's his personal vanity because he has no movement. Nobody's backing him," New Mexico Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson said Sunday in advance of Nader's announcement.

"The Greens aren't backing him. His friends urge him not to do it. It's all about himself," Richardson told "Fox News Sunday."

"Now, Ralph's made some great contributions to consumer issues over the years, but clearly it's not going to help us," he said. "I don't think he'll have a sizable impact, but it's terrible if he goes ahead because it's about him. It's about his ego. It's about his vanity and not about a movement that supposedly he headed for many years very effectively."

As the Green Party's nominee in 2000, Nader appeared on the ballot in 43 states and Washington, D.C., garnering only 2.7 percent of the vote. But in Florida and New Hampshire, Bush won such narrow victories that had Gore received the bulk of Nader's votes in those states, he would have won the general election.

For me, it comes down to results. Perhaps Nader wants Bush to be reelected? Or perhaps he just doesn't care? Ego will do that, hmm?