Ralph Nader said that if Democrats choose Hillary as their candidate, he will join the race. Any thoughts?

Question

If Hilllary is unelectable, would it really make any difference if Nader split the liberal vote?

Answer 1

Ex republican here . I voted for Nader last election. he seems like a true moderate in beween the right winger hillary and the liberal Bush.. It felt great to throw my vote away. and I will do it again.....

Answer 2

First, I'm pretty sure the statement is factually incorrect--Ralph Nader has stated in a number of interviews you can find online that his decision to run depends greatly on whether he can get thousands of volunteers, pro bono lawyers and resources to fight an uphill battle for ballot access (against the insanely unfair and undemocratic ballot access laws dems and repubs have placed on third parties and independent candidates in almost every state). Though I did see somewhere that he said he'd be more likely to run if Hillary was the dem candidate. If you believe in democracy, then at least write him and tell him you'll volunteer for the ballot access portion of a campaign (see source list for information about just a few of the unfair ballot access practices)... In 2004 in Illinois while the Dems worked tirelessly to keep Nader off the ballot, they bent over backwards to pass a law to allow Bush to have ballot access. Should make one think, yes?

As for the second question... (A) You're right that Hillary is unelectable.
(B) I'm sick of people using Ralph Nader as a scapegoat for the 2000 election--it was stolen--look up Greg Palast's work on how, or watch the movie An Unreasonable Man. Look up the facts, don't just buy into whatever the media's feeding people.
(C) The only way to get better candidates is if they know that they can't take our votes for granted--they need to know that if they don't stand for (in their actions, not just words) what's important to us, we will vote for someone who will. Otherwise, they'll keep giving in to the pull of big corporations that are lobbying them day and night, and keep getting worse every four years. Even if they can't "win," they can push issues--how do you think we got things like the women's right to vote?

Answer 3

Another reason not to vote for Hillary. And Nader got over 2% of the vote in 2000. It might have made the difference for Gore.

Answer 4

Liberals caught on to Ralph Nadar after the last time. Voters are no longer so pleased with a candidate who registers knowing that he/she has no chance of winning, but are only on the ballot to try and defeat someone else. I'm not saying that she is neccesarily my choice, but I think that if she is the Democrat nominee and it looks as if she is going to be, she will be the next President. She is an intelligent politician, like her or not, she has the ability to raise lots of many which means she has a lot of support and she has an experienced political machine behind her. Those are just the facts. She's very electable. George Walker Bush has helped her a lot, too. He has disgusted some citizens so much that they are tired of the GOP, at least for a while.

Answer 5

I'd love to see it. This one-party system has been masquarading as a two-party system since Woodrow Wilson.

I don't agree with much of what Nader says, and definately would not vote for him, but it is very important that we bring as many participants into the presidential arena as possible.

Answer 6

I think that even the liberals have wised up to Nader. His only role in the election was to split the liberal vote.

Extremist liberals are not a huge constituency even in the Democrat Party so I doubt he will be a huge influencer.

Answer 7

I hate to burst your bubble, but Nader will not split anything. If he draws 2 percent it will be a miracle. The only unelectable people in 2008, and that includes county commissioners for roads and bridges will be any Republican...but dream on, with the thousand year empire in ruins it is all you have left.

Answer 8

Lets see, Ralph Nader and the word thoughts anywhere in the same zip code do not belong.

Answer 9

I'm sure Republicans are hoping that Nader jumps in, since he handed the Republicans Bush's first victory.

Answer 10

My guess is that he isn't sure she is unelectable and wants to make sure it doesn't happen. It will be some expense and effort on his part so he must be dedicated to the proposition that Hillary sucks.