Why is Nader running? His argument that Obama hasn't spoken up enough on the issues he fought for as a community organizer is stunningly weak. Would a Democratic nominee have to be 100% perfect for Nader not to run? I understand single-issue 3rd party candidates or those who are so outside the mainstream that they really don't overlap with one of the major parties' candidacies, or someone running when the two candidates are pretty close together.

Though it turned out to be regrettable, I don't think Nader's run in 2000 was inexplicable. It came after 8 years of left-wing frustration with Clinton, and Bush was running as a moderate Republican (he was more dovish on foreign policy than Gore). 2004 is not very defensible, but at the same time Kerry was not a great candidate.

But this year it looks like the Dems may very well nominate someone who excites the youth, the disenchanted, and even many of those on the left, not to mention having the most reliably liberal vote in the Senate. There really isn't any compelling reason for Nader to get into it. I've always defended him (not in passionate terms, but feeling that the attacks on him were overstated) but finally, I have to scratch my head. This goes beyond stubbornness into something approaching madness.

I really don't think there's much to worry about this time around. It's one thing to vote for Nader rather than one of the other white guys, but that's not going to be the case this year. That leaves some Kucinich and Gravel supporters and those who didn't vote in the Democratic primary because the party's too right wing. I think the Peace & Freedom party is set to return to it's share of the vote when Benjamin Spock was its candidate. I can just hear chants of Ralph Larouche.

In 2,000; Nader was trying to elect Bush.  I am convinced of this.  I recall one of the Green Party leaders saying that they were urging him to campaign in NY, a big liberal state with lots of liberal voters who could be taken from Gore without risking the state.  He didn't.  In fact, I recall looking up his campaign schedule the last 10 days before the election.  As I recall he took a tour of states such as Oregon, Washington, Minnesota and Florida; which he could only have chosen because they were close states that he had a chance of tipping to Bush.  I agree with the second poster.  It doesn't matter what he does now.  He has lost the left (over the 2,000 election, his attitude, the Terry Schiavo case, and other reasons)  His only remaining supporters are indistinguishable from the idiots who would vote for Ron Paul or LaRouche.  The only real question is why NBC feels obligted to shill for him every four years

apr.sagepub.com/.../672

Interesting article, Stan, if you can access it.