The Spoiler
Now that Ralph Nader has entered the presidential race, things get a little more interesting. My personal feeling is that McCain would lose to Obama but could win against Clinton, with all her negatives. Nader typically draws votes more from the Democratic candidate (just ask Al Gore), so with Obama looking more and more like the presumptive candidate, I like this development.
One of the things that Nader’s candidacy always puts forth is that he is the candidat of real change, and that there’s not much difference between the two major parties. Which, in my mind, means that those who vote for Nader on that basis really just don’t generally pay attention to what’s going on. That most of Nader’s votes come from Democrats says, to me, more about Democrats than about Nader.
[tags]Ralph Nader,Al Gore,Democrats,politics[/tags]
Filed under: Democrats • Doug • Government • Politics
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If Obama gets the nod, I don’t see Nader’s presence having a big effect.
If Clinton gets the nod, it will be one more serious hurdle that she’ll have to overcome and which may be one she can’t overcome.
It was refreshing to see Hillary Clinton finally acknowledge what many of us already understood: that Nader was a spoiler in 2000 and cost Al Gore the election. Nader siphoned off enough votes in New Hampshire and Florida to make the difference. If either one of those states had gone to Gore he would have won the presidency.
I’m not sure whether he can still be a spoiler in 2008 but it’s a development I find encouraging.
Welcome back, Dan. Been a long time. (By the way, now that this comment’s been approved, all others skip the moderation queue.)
Nader’s time may have come and gone. His 2004 bid was rather pathetic in terms of his vote percentages vs 2000. However, I can see him doing a bit better this time, with no heir apparent on either side of the aisle.