The Ego Has Landed

Now that Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination, let's talk about Ralph Nader. I respected Nader many years ago when he actually stood for something. Sadly, he no longer stands for anything but his own over-inflated ego.

Nader's involvement in the 2000 presidential race cost Gore the election. In 2000, Nader won less than 100,000 votes in Florida. With help from his brother Jeb and that harpy Katherine Harris, Bush "won" the state with a margin of less than 1000 votes. Had Nader not been on the ballot, Gore would almost certainly have won a clear majority of the Florida vote, regardless of hanging chads and the like. Such a scenario would have precluded 5 members of the U.S. Supreme Court from ignoring the vote of the people and handing the presidency over to the candidate whose father had appointed 2 of the 5 members.

Because of Nader's ego, we've had to endure almost 8 mind-numbing years of the bush/cheney horror. I can never forgive him for that. But, Nader's candidacy might have a different result this year. Clearly, a large number of voters will not vote for Obama simply because he's black. Some of these same rascist voters may dislike McCain because "he's not conservative enough". Or, perhaps, they realize that McCain is way too old to be seeking one of the most demanding jobs on the planet. Maybe a few of them even recognize that the Iraq invasion was about the stupidest thing ever done by the U.S. Government. Regardless of the reasons, perhaps Nader will offer an alternative.

So, go ahead and run, Ralph. If you pull enough support from McCain to help Obama win, I will try to forgive you - some day.