Ralph's Nadir

Well, It would seem that Ralph Nader is determined to tilt at the windmills once again. This would be something to admire if I really believed he thought it was the only way to get his message across to the American people. Instead, I think that Ralph just wants to feed his ego. His entrance into the race got him some headlines and ruffled Democratic feathers and tickled Republicans. There was no demand for his candidacy and his message is just a retread of the last; he put a lot of miles on that tread in 2000 for nothing more than the secret gratitude of Dubya. Ralph Nader has been a loud voice for the consumer and Americans for decades, and his career is to be admired. He had used that admired status to speak out for years before he decided to run for president to garner more attention; in 2000, he had a higher profile but no more attention than he had previously. The combination of Gore's incompetent campaign and Dubya's good 'ol boy network allowed Nader to become the straw that broke Al's back... he seems to like it in the spoiler role. I do not think he will have any effect on this years election; the anti-Bush fervor is too great to waste a vote for Ralph on principle.

Ralph Nader is a smart man with some great ideas and an ego that seems to drive him into a position where he is going to be ignored by most, and even despised by some; that is not a good way to get those ideas out there.