Public Reaction to News that Nader Will Run…Again

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Look carefully at the date on this article. No, it is not 2004, or 2000. It’s 2008, and it’s true: Ralph Nader is running for President. Again.

After making the announcement of his candidacy last week, reaction has been mixed, ranging from dismay to humor.

When asked why ("Why, oh why?") he was doing it, Nader answered, "The same reason as last time. The two parties, in varying degrees, have shut down the government, preventing us from having a chance to improve our country."

Nader sat down with a reporter from The Village Voice this week to answer questions that are on the lips of many who want to know: why on earth would he do this again?

Enraged Democrats blame Nader for everything from eight years of Bush to the Iraq war (i.e., if he had not "prevented" Al Gore from winning the Presidency in 2000, we would never have gone to war…..wait, that’s actually not a bad point).

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, or you’re one of those high school students recently surveyed who didn’t know who Adolf Hitler was, you know that Nader’s greatest success came in 2000. As the Green Party candidate, Nader scored 2.7 percent of the national vote, enough votes to have elected Al Gore President if Nader voters had chosen Gore instead.

He didn’t fare nearly as well in 2004 running as an Independent, and received only .3 percent of the nation’s vote. Maybe those who had so ardently supported him in 2000 felt burned by what ultimately happened.

Still, when listening to the man, it’s hard to condemn his principles. "[The two parties] have turned the government over to giant corporations," said Nader to the Village Voice reporter. "These two parties have spoiled our country, spoiled our elections, spoiled our government and they have the arrogance to say that no one else could go on the ballot to give voters a broader choice."

He’s saying he’s running because he has the right to run, as does any American citizen, and no one should try to censor or stop him.

So it’s actually the fact that he has been so successful that makes him so dangerous to some. People are still holding grudges, eight years later, against their more liberal friends who voted for Nader in 2000. While there is little actual chance that he will affect this year’s election, one never knows, and the fears are still there. They’re still mad at Nader.

Americablog’s John Aravosis writes, "The man has lost us two elections. He deserves to be roasted on a spit."

Even the barometer of the far left, the Daily Kos, is not seeing the value in Nader’s announcement. "Yep, he’s an idiot," writes Markos Mulitsas, the "Kos" behind the site.

The other candidates vying for the Presidency had mixed reactions which ran along party lines. Democratic potential nominee Hillary Clinton expressed disappointment at the news, saying, "Wow, that’s really unfortunate," adding, "I remember when he did this before." (She’s a smart one!). Clinton added to reporters, "Well, you know his being on the Green Party prevented Al Gore from being the greenest president we’ve ever had."

Obama was slightly kinder. "Ralph Nader deserves enormous credit for the work he did as a consumer advocate," said Obama to the press before deftly adding in politico-speak, "But his function as a perennial candidate is not putting food on the table of workers."

Mike Huckabee was not too dismayed to hear of Nader’s plans. "Well, I think it always would probably pull votes away from the Democrats, not the Republicans," said Huckabee to CNN reporters. "So naturally Republicans would welcome his entry into the race and hope that maybe a few more will join in."

Local New York newspaper the The Post Star asked people on the street what they thought about Nader’s run. Green Party member Matt Funiciello told reporters he was glad Nader decided to run again, and he’d vote for him, even though Nader no longer represents the Green Party. Funiciello agrees with Nader that the two major parties are too similar. "They’re asking me every year to choose between a Whopper and a Big Mac, and I like salad" said Funiciello. "And I'm going to vote for my salad." He’s free to do that, but he should know that almost everyone else ignores the salad.

College government professor Bob Turner seemed to echo what a lot of folks on the street were thinking: that Nader knows he couldn’t win, so he must have other motives. "I think many political observers feel that Nader is a bit of a spent force politically," said Turner. "His time has come and gone. A less-charitable read might be that he is desperate for attention."

Not everyone who heard Nader’s announcement saw it as bad news. Political comedians are sure to get some mileage out of the announcement.

Will Durst, well-known political satirist, had this to say about Nader: "Ralph Nader. Like a lefter Dennis Kucinich minus the hot wife and massive groundswell of public support."