What the hell is Nader thinking?

Ralph Nader is running for president again. I don't buy the smear that he's just a spoiler, potentially ruining John Kerry's chance to win by stealing precious liberal votes. Still, what's his motivation? What can he accomplish?

The 2000 election was won by the Republicans by successfully smearing the Clinton/Gore legacy. That's the only way the witless, pampered son of a failed president could have captured the White House. Nader's influence (and butterfly ballots) may have tipped the balance as the means, but the race was half-decided when Republicans engineered a bogus impeachment.

...his activism, which once elightened the world..., has become a shrill cry

But that doesn't mean that Nader isn't nuts.

First, his activism, which once elightened the world to the way that some corporations weighed safety against liability, has become a shrill cry against much more nebulous corporate practices and influence (and he's still complaining about auto safety; Ralph, we're safe enough already). Second, and far more important, what could he accomplish if he won?

If Ralph Nader won the presidency in an astonishing upset resulting from, say, the discovery that George W Bush and John Kerry were both members of some secret cabal— Bad example.

If Ralph Nader won the presidency in an astonishing upset resulting from, say, the discovery that George W Bush and John Kerry were both cannibals, what would he inherit?

Nader would face a House and Senate allied solidly against him. Republicans and Democrats would continue to wrangle amongst themselves and let Nader veto or sign their legislation as the whim took him, but he would surely be frozen out of the process. Democrats would find more traction with him, but his single-mindedness and lack of experience with foreign policy (heck, virtually any policy) would surely frustrate them beyond words.

But Nader could find success in politics. If he picked the right venue, he could probably win an influential position in state legislature; maybe even a seat in Congress. There, even as an independent, he could actually get some of his ideas implemented. Better still, he could raise enough of a stink to actually kill some ideas that favor corporate interests too much. That would be a service to the American people.

Tilting at windmills isn't.

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