If the prospect of running against a non-telegenic, patrician “Massachusetts liberal” wasn’t propping up Bush’s re-election chances enough, now comes this:
Former Green Party candidate Ralph Nader is poised to declare that he will seek the presidency again this year, this time as an independent and despite a vigorous effort by the left to dissuade him, according to friends and associates.
“I think there’s very little doubt,” said Micah Sifry, author of a book on third-party politics and a longtime Nader watcher. “I think he’s going to run.”
Nader, blamed for tilting the 2000 election to President Bush by siphoning off votes from Al Gore, twice has delayed saying whether he would be a candidate, but insiders expect the declaration next week.
Needless to say, if Nader enables Bush to win re-election, everything the independent is supposedly running for goes out the window.
While it’s sad to see that Nader has completely succumbed to his egomania, I wouldn’t worry about this too much.
In my opinion, this year’s election is very different from 2000. I don’t think anyone would let what happened in 2000 happen again. I hope.