Sunday, February 24, 2008

Oh, damn

It's with sadness that I report that Ralph Nader has decided to run for President again. Sadness because, although I agree with everything he says about the inadequacies of the stated policies of both Clinton and Obama (and a fortiori McCain), the solution is not for him to become a presidential candidate and thereby to weaken his influence, but rather to work with one (or both) of the Democratic candidates toward his ends. Nader is weakening his influence by these repeated candidacies, weakening his image and his legacy as well. Instead of effectively raising his laudable policies into public discourse, he's isolating himself from the electoral process and diminishing them and himself, becoming now a near-ridiculous footnote in history.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

My reaction upon reading of Nader's decision was this: "Oh that asshat is at it again." He has lost my respect by mocking our tenuous efforts to overthrow reactionary autocracy and restore civil rights, by tilting the playing field toward the angle of futility.