Is there any way we can dissuade Nader from running?

We need him - America needs him - The World needs him - to not run in 2004.

"Major-party status" for the Greens can wait. A Nader campaign would do nothing but hurt America. We need him to support our nominee.

That's news to me. :shrug:

I was just thinking of him, though.

Let's make sure Dennis wins and we will all win.

agrees with Kucinich on the issues. He didn't endorse Kucinich, but they are friends. So I'd say it's a sure bet he won't win if Kucinich gets the nomination, and otherwise he will run.

It is important for us Democrats to win next year, but then I'd like to see some of the establishment Democrats actually reinforce it, instead of being such compromisers with the Bush administration, like Gephart and Kerry.

I'm 99% sure he has no plans to run this time around. He's not an idiot. He's seen what a couple years of Bush looks like.

We have Gephardt and Kucinich as the only candidates who actually opposed NAFTA. That's a major issue for middle class Americans and Greens and independents.

A 10% (at least) surtax on multinational corporations. Then the products that are produced domesticly will be cheaper and it would be more cost effective for them to bring the jobs back.

I could never support a candidate who opposed NAFTA.

I know, I know. I'm in the minority on here. But I studied too much economics at Harvard, the infamous New England bastion of conservatism.... Or was that liberalism. I get so confused.

if you don't incorporate some of his ideas into the Democratic platform. If you tell him that if he runs, America will re-elect Bush, then there is a possibility that he might run. If you treat him with respect, then he won't run. We democrats just have to talk to him, not brush him off.

The dem nominee needs to keep this in mind.

and most democrats won't either. Why should they?

He obviously is doing this for his own ego. He doesn't give a rat's ass about Americans or anyone but himself.

If he wants to talk, fine. He can run too, but that sure as hell doesn't mean I'll forgive him for the lies he purpotrated during the last election.

God help us if they ran a smart movie star, a minority woman, well let's not give them more ideas. Camejo won all those Calif Guberanatorial debates.

"God help us if they ran a smart movie star, a minority woman"

Not a movie star, but smart and a minority. Plus she has extra martyr appeal and was SO much braver than most other congresspersons.

he'll run if Rove wants him to.

:eyes:

n/t

He is only a bush vote......Sorry, but nader is only a spoiler and this is a proven fact of 2000. *bush and rove will laugh all the way through the West Wing if he does run.

It's nice in theory only.

So he gets 5% . . . 6%, 7%, whatever. (All, IMHO, impossible.)*

So what? So he's 'official'. He gets matching money. Is money what its about? Filthy lucre the prize? Buys a baby seat at the fat cats' table? A foot-hold from which gets 8%, 10% next cycle? (Impossible.)*

It seems like his vision of 'success' necessitates draining more and more votes from the left side of the pool, further enthrenching brutally anti-environmental corporatists.


* Impossible to grow this thing (3rd party prez candidacy) because few enough people vote already, and there's no sign of increasing numbers of people waiting in line to cast theirs for a chance at 5%. Especially after 2000 drove home the point about only ELECTORAL votes counting, etc.

:shrug:

If he decides to run, only the newly enfranchised 18 year-old political virgins and the hardcore dreamers will be duped into supporting this Republican-financed Pied Piper.

Most have figured it out...there really is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.

I supported Nader in 2000 because Gore and Lieberman were running such a lousy Bush Lite campaign run out of the DLC playbook. I still wanted them to win, but I wanted enough votes to send them a message that the progressives would not be ignored. Of course, those guys should have been able to trounce Bush so easilly. The vice president of such a popular president running on a great record of peace and prosperity should have had no trouble at all clobbering a corporate criminal son of an unpopular president with a lifetime record of failure, and the 3 percent of votes that Nader got shouldn't have made a difference. The fault lies with the egos who were running the Gore campaign, and with Gore himself by being one of the worst, most awkward, stiff and unlikable candidates ever. If he was the Al Gore that we saw on Saturday Night Live last year, he'd be in the white house now.

But a couple years of Bush should be enough of a wakeup call for anyone on the left who might have considered voting for anyone other than the democrat candidate this time around.

I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that blaming Nader is just irresponsible. There were so many mistakes in the Gore campaign to learn from which only get ignored if the whole loss gets blamed on a supposed "spoiler."

"The fault lies with the egos who were running the Gore campaign, and with Gore himself by being one of the worst, most awkward, stiff and unlikable candidates ever."

Of course, if you really believe this crap, then the Republican corporate media did their job.

And, of course, there were no egos running in Ralph's camp.

Unfortunately for our democracy, too many people were duped into believing this. And the election was close enough for the Republicans, in concert with corporate media and a political biased SCOTUS, to steal the election.

I'm sorry, but the dude was a stiff. I wanted to like him. I gave it my best efforts. I would have voted for him anyway if I lived in a battleground state. But to tell me that I was duped by the republicans is rather insulting.

And as a former DNC employee, I saw those egos first hand and watched them fuck it all up. It was sad and embarassing, but if we can learn from it, it wouldn't have been in vain.

I re-assert that the election should have never been that close in the first place. Nader's tiny wedge didn't close the huge gap that Gore had coming into it. Gore and his godawful campaigning did. Having a republican like Lieberman as a running mate sure didn't help much though.

"as a former DNC employee" and you are posting that you voted for Nader?

I've got you figured out, slickdude.

only in 'safe' areas?

If not for that spectacularly bad decision, we might not be having this conversation.

Yes, Dems do idiotic things too. Sorry to burst your bubble.

What, you think that everybody who worked at the DNC thought alike? Damn right I voted for Nader, in my home state of NY, to send the democrats a message that I was sick of them ignoring the progressive base. So you're going to start namecalling over it now are you? How mature.

PS: My employment at the DNC is easy enough to verify. My name is Jason Buckley. I worked there from October 99 to October 2000 in the Interactive Media Division. Anyone in the Technology division will back that up.

nominate Kucinich, or another TRUE progressive...
co-opt the green agenda and make it our own...

Nothing can stop a united left...but only if is stands up for the BASE.

Not this election. Gotta run for the center. It's coalition politics, baby! Everyone has to get onboard with a very simple theme. Stop Bush.

Let's elect Democrats to Congress and get a majority. Let's root Republican corporate lobbyists out and start investigating the War on America. Once we take care of the fundemental problems, then we can begin to focus on progressive policies.

But I'd be real happy to see Dennis running the House. :-)

What groundbreaking part of the liberal agenda was served?

Family leave time, and a paltry excuse for it at that.

Please.

Yeah! Sure! Kucinich. That'll be the day.

What are all you folks smoking and where can I get some?

We just have to pay him more than what the Republicans are offering.

Contact him, tell him that you're a Green, tell him that you voted for him in 2000, and tell him that he won't get your support in 2004. If he gets a ton of these messages, he won't be able to avoid some feeling of discouragement.

If you vote for someone else and Nader runs, you have only yourself to blame.

Threats. Very nice. I'm voting for Kucinich now!

:eyes:

You just advocated lying in order to dissuade Nader. Are all Democrats liars?

jk... I love Nader

Nominate Kucinich.

How bout creating a conservative third party or fire up the Reform party to steal Bush votes?

:)

It's pointless to expect Nader to sit it out if the choices are Bush and Bush Lite, but if the choices are Kucinich and Bush, then we're talking the clearest possible difference and someone to actually vote for instead of against.