I did, in fact, vote for Nader in 2000. But before you berate me, let me explain:
I live in California, where Bush was never going
to win anyway. I also voted at around 7:30 that evening,
when California had already given up its electoral
votes to Gore. I figured hey, what the hell, vote for Nader.
Maybe he can get some matching funds for next
time. I was actually convinced that "next time" would be
between Gore and Nader (and some other loser).
This was all before I went home and watched TV
until four a.m., witnessing the destruction of the democratic process.
Watching a monkey steal a whole state.
I won't be voting for Nader, needless to say,
just in case they're bothering to count votes this year.
We have to get our two-party system back before
we can start voting for a third.
Ryan M.
Ryan, that last sentence was great.
I voted for Nader both in 1996 and in 2000. Figured
that in Oregon, a Nader vote was pretty safe
last time as no way would Bush get a majority.
This time? I'm definitely an "ABB" voter.
I still believe that Nader makes excellent points
about the influence of corporations on the political system,
but it's obvious that this country can't make
it through another four years of Bush.
I do get tired of the "Nader cost Gore the election"
mantra. How about blaming the folks who voted for Bush?
Anyone who did any research at all could tell
this clown was a tool of corporations and right-wing religious zealots.
Al W
I voted for Nader in 2000 because I live in MA,
which I knew Gore would win (if I lived in Florida, I'd voted for Gore).
I was also appalled by the Gore campaign where
he constantly said, "I agree," to Bush's nonsense. I was idealistic
in
hoping a successful Green Party campaign would
wake up the Democrats and show them that it's actually okay to
embrace liberalism and proudly point out how
Dems are different from Repubs.
2004 I will vote for Kerry, even though I still live in MA. I don't just want Bush to lose, I want him to lose big.
I believe most Nader voters from 2000 will vote
for Kerry. In past primaries people like Tsongas, Jesse Jackson,
and Bill Bradley lasted pretty long because many
liberal primary voters based their vote on certain issues or ideological
beliefs.
This year Sharpton, Kusinich, and even Braun
had absolutely no success because people are only thinking about electabity;
they're desperate to beat Bush. Most former
Nader voters will think like these democrat primary voters and Bush will
lose
unless the election is called off (you never
know) or the voting machines are tampered (has already happened).
Alan
Kerry
Jeremy W
I've proudly 'wasted' my vote in every presidential
election since I was 18.
Never found a candidate I could support until
Nader.
Voted and campaigned for Nader in 2000.
Nader will not get my vote this year.
This year, I'm voting for the guy that can beat
Bush.
If that guy is Urkel. . .then so be it.
Keep up the good work, I've sent at least five
Repubs to your site
to help my attempts at their re-education and
it has worked wonders.
Gina
Bart,
I was a Nader vote-exchanger.
I traded my vote here in Houston, Texhell with a guy in Washington state.
There is no way in this reality that I would
even consider punching my "e-vote" screen (not that BFEE would
allow a legit contest in the belly of the beast)
for Ralphie and will discourage all I meet to vote for Kerry.
Idealism, I'm afraid, must
be set aside for the moment and dealing with the situation at hand is the
top priority.
Four more years of BFEE... gives me the creeps
just thinking about it... would be a disaster. And, as a direct
descendant of Abraham Clark, delegate and signatory
of the Declaration Of Independence from New Jersey,
my heritage will not permit me to let this pass
without putting up a fight to save our nation from tyranny.
I've been a fan for about a
year but sadly can't afford a subscription. I'm a former Kellog,
Brown and Root
employee (fourth generation) but got caught in
their "reduction in force" when they outsourced design work to Asia.
Guess Dickie-baby needed a bigger option package.
As soon as I get back on my feet I'll be joinin' up with ya Pard.
Hang in there... we need good,
honest-patriotic folks like you sounding out,
" The Bushes are coming! The Bushes are
coming!!! To arms!!! To arms!!!"
Peace and Inspiration,
Kevin
Hello Bart,
Reformed Naderite here. I don't feel ashamed
for voting for Nader, same as I don't feel ashamed that I grew up
believing Clinton really did want to let the
U.N.'s black helicopters have free reign over the country. Both of
them
were born of ignorance. I was Republican
until 99, my home of Colorado Springs had 1 newspaper and was home
to Focus on the Family, so ALL the news was focused
on the depravity of Clinton and the Democratic party.
But that's not the point I'm trying to make.
I believed in Nader based on one idea alone; that democracy, true democracy,
is stifled under a two-party, winner-take-all
system. In many ways, I still believe this. The catcalls towards
the
military-industrial-congressional complex rang
as true in Reagan's day as in Clinton's. HOWEVER, and please don't
start throwing shot glasses at me until I've
made my point, I no longer believe that a push for a legitimate third-party
should begin at the top. It should come
from the ground up.
I will say this; "I would support Ralph Nader
for whatever LOCAL office he ran for." Until there is a true third-party
movement, ala Lincoln Republicans, rising through
the local and state offices, a third-party candidate for president will
be nothing but a spoiler. No matter what
Nader says on Meet the Press. In 2000, I voted not in protest of
the similarities
between the D's and the R's, but in protest of
the two-party system. This year, I will still remain poised to look
at all
contenders for local office, but my presidential
vote will go Democrat. In the White House, there is far too much
at stake.
Thank you for listening,
And thank you Bart for informing.
brett
Bart,
I voted for Nader in 2000. This year, I
plan to vote for John Kerry. Absolutely, I do.
I'd have even ridden some Joe-mentum into the
White House if it'd meant evicting Smirky and crew.
Anyway, my case for Nader in 2000 is here:
http://twoshotsandanolive.blogspot.com/2004_02_01_twoshotsandanolive_archive.html#107733594245639406
Eric
Voted for Nader in Texas in 2000 because it was
already won for Bush
This year, I'll vote Kerry with hope we get a
real liberal in the white house.
Looking forward to that solar electric future.
Wish he'd pick for VP New Mexico's Bill
Richardson, definitely do not like Clark....
G. Bird
I voted for Nader last time, and even though the
democrats’ Nader bashing is starting to annoy me, I’m voting for
the Democratic candidate (Kerry) this time.
Mainly because I want to see Bush lose by a LARGE margin.
I voted for Nader last time because I was done
with “politics of fear”, or voting for a candidate that I didn’t like
because I was more afraid of the alternative.
With Tipper as a wife (connection to the religious right with her
PMRC friends), and Lieberman as a running mate
(more right wing than some republicans); how could I trust
Gore’s judgement? He was no alternative
to me. That’s my opinion, at least.
Have you ever been out with someone who was almost
a sure thing? Where you knew that if you just kept
your mouth shut, and didn’t say anything stupid,
you would get some luvin for sure? Kerry is like that now.
Most of my fellow Greens who I have talked to
are voting for Kerry, as long as he doesn’t royally screw up.
ADVICE FOR NADER HATERS (from a former Nader supporter):
1) Ignore him. In the 2000 election Democrats
spent a lot of time and money on advertisements dissin’ Nader.
That was really dumb strategy. That money
and energy should have been 100% focused on Bush. There were
anti-Nadir adds all over California. You
knew Gore was going to win Cali hands down. It seemed like a waste
of resources. Honestly, if you just ignore
Nader, and focus on your goal, the REAL threat, you will be better off.
2) Don’t blame Nader fans. As I said, most
of the Greens I know are going for the Dem candidate this time.
If you keep blaming us for 2000, then you will
end up distancing us. We don’t consider ourselves spoilers, and
never will. Deal with it. We may
have made the election a little close (by 2%); but remember: We didn’t
make
Bush cheat, We didn’t have the Supreme Court
stop the count, We didn’t put the black voters on the felony list
in Florida, and We didn’t bend over and give
up when we were told to. It’s not our fault Gore turned his back
on Clinton. There were many factors that
went in to Gore losing, and Nader was the least of them. Pinning
it
all on Nader means that the Dems can't admit
their own faults, which makes them look weak.
3) If I’m wrong, and Nader did “steal” votes from
the Democrats, then maybe they should stop yelling at him
and listen to him. At least the Greens
had a coherent message. If that was speaking to some people who felt
that the Democratic Party was no longer representing
them, maybe the Democrats should look into that, and see
why they were losing people. If the Democrats
address some of Nader’s criticisms, then they take can take the
steam out of his campaign. Like him or
hate him, he does have a few good points; and you have to admit that he
was reaching some people who were feeling left
our by the other parties.
4) Nader got the youth vote. The Democrats
had the kids behind them for both Clinton campaigns, and then
dropped the ball. They have a great opportunity
now to have Dean and Dennis K. go out, get in the trenches
and rally a youth vote around Kerry. (Was
I the only person who noticed that Mtv’s “Rock the Vote”, which
was entirely behind Clinton, didn’t lift a finger
for PMRC’s husband, and his running mate “Sewer Award” Lieberman?)
All that aside, I don't think you need to worry
about Nader.
Gore made me want to Ralph.
Kerry doesn't.
-=Jeff
Yeah, I voted for Nader in 2000. Voting
for Nader in 2000 was very easy for me, because IL was strongly
blue that year. If I'd been a Florida resident,
and aware of how close it was projected to be, I would
have seriously re-considered my vote.
I won't vote for Nader this year though.
I am conflicted about his running; except for the 'electability' issue,
he's the best guy for the job. And since we're
still (mostly) a free country, I'm glad he's running.
I do think he's throwing away a lot of his past
support. But if he actually gets a lot of attention,
maybe he'll draw ALL the democrats over, and
Kerry/Edwards will be left gasping in the dust.
I heard an NPR commentator talking today about how including Nader in the debates would be good for Bush.
Thanks for the page, and for letting the raging liberal in all of us have a voice!
E
living in wisconsin for now
I live in California and I voted for Nader in
2000, and have no regrets about doing so.
Gore ran a horrid campaign (though he faced an
incredibly across-the-board hostile media).
At the time, of course, I viewed Gore as essentially
a Clinton Democrat -- which is to say,
effectively a moderate Republican -- so I voted
for somebody that really pointed out the fact
that whatever the differences were as regards
domestic economics, there was no large
difference between the GOP and the Dems (read:
DLC).
This time around, as much as I still have very
high regard for Nader, I will be voting for the
Democratic Candidate, though I view Kerry as
"old hat" -- my tastes ran more to Kucinich or Dean.
Old hat or not, HE IS NOT BUSH, who is clearly
the worst President this nation has ever had.
I didn't care for Clinton, but compared to GWB,
he is a giant. I am not wild about Kerry,
but compared to GWB he is a giant (and I am not
talking about being physically larger than the little twerp).
Dave A
Bart
I voted for Nader in 2000 because I felt
he was the best person running, which is who you should vote for.
I am a member of the Green party, and most people
do vote for their own party. I do not feel bad about voting
for Nader, that's democracy. I didn't help
Bush win (because he didn't really win) the only votes that mattered were
in the Supreme Court.
Also I live in Minnesota and Gore won the state
with Nader getting just over 5% of the vote.
Had Nader not run I would have voted for the
Green party candidate anyway because I don't like Gore.
I did nothing to advance Bush's cause.
In the last 4 years I voted for Democrats in the Senate and House races,
but I voted Green in all the state offices that
had Green candidates. Yesterday I voted in the Caucus, for Kucinich
because he most represents my views. In
November I will vote for Kerry because, although I like lesser primates
I will not vote for them.
Charles B
Bartcop,
James is mostly right.
I voted for Nader in 2000 (in relatively safe NM, and it was too close
for comfort)
to help bring the Green Party to the table.
But this is 2004 and I think we had better vote for any and every
democrat we can find. This is an emergency!
Peter in New Mexico
I think people who value true liberalism should
go with Nader- they shouldn't be asked to choose
between a Republican and a bunch of mamby-pamby
losers like the Democrats.
Of course, I'm a Republican, so I'm voting for Bush, not Nader, but that shouldn't stop you!
Shamus
Shamus, did you know the average American human consumes 28 pounds of
bananas each year?
How many pounds does an American monkey eat each year?
Dear Bart,
Yes, I voted for Nader in 2000 after voting for
every Democratic Presidential candidate since 1955.
In 2000, I just got tired of being taken for
granted and for being taken for a sucker..
I felt like I had reached for the dollar on the
sidewalk that had a string tied to it that led to the old trickster
who was hiding behind the fence too many times
and I wasn't going to fall for it again.
Every election year the Dems trot out national
health care and every year they jerk the string after the election
and, poof, national health care disappears.
I had just had enough. Still I wanted to vote for Gore. And
so every
time he yelled, "I'll fight for you." I
waited for him to add " And I'll fight for National health care."
If he had said it just once I would have voted
for him in a New York second. He didn't. He wasn't willing
to earn my vote and I refused to give it to him
for nothing. Enough is enough. How am I different from African
Americans who refuse to be taken for granted and
have stopped voting for the Democrats. And why blame me
when about half the population has given up on
the promises of the corporate whores who promise and never deliver
and have just stopped voting. I, at least,
still voted even if you don't approve of the way I arrived at my decision.
And, yes, I'll probably vote for Kerry
this time but I won't promise that I'll bother voting for more than another
election or two, Kerry is doing a Gore
right now with his "everyone will have "ACCESS" to health care as good
as the members of Congress. I wrote his
website and told them that "ACCESS" is a weasel word and doesn't
mean a damn thing. I have access to the
Presidential Suite on the Queen Mary II but if I don't have the $$$$$$
ha ha
"ACCESS" doesn't mean squat.
Kerry seems to be coming closer to saying outright
that if he wins everyone will have health care,
but lets hear him say it loud and clear.
donald
Donald, the way I remember it, the Clintons tried their best to deliever
health care to every American,
but the Gop said, "Over our dead bodies"
and the Democrats totally wet their pants in fear and begged
the GOP to forgive them. They agreed with the GOP that the Clinton
HC plan was a disaster and we lost
the House in '94 because of their lack of sac.
Why are Democrats so afraid of their own shadow?
Yes, the Democrats are spineless wimps, but at least they're not raping,
pillaging and threatening every other
country in the world. If Gore had been allowed to take office, I believe
we'd still have the WTC, we'd have
550 non-destroyed military families and we'd be fighting over the budget
surplus - but noooooooooooooo.
The GOP stole Florida because they KNEW
we'd lay down and surrender without a fight,
and that's just what we did. While the GOP was busy doing this...
Gore was busy composing his "I'm a Democrat
so I'll surrender" speech.
Every day when the bully demands our lunch money,
we fork it over with a cheerful smile
and then we're polite enough to remind the bully
that we'll have more money tomorrow
and offer to meet him wherever he'll be.
It's almost enough to make me sick to my stomach.
