RALPH NADER

I know a lot of you feel that Ralph Nader gave the 2000 election to George W. Bush. I happen to feel that Bush's win was a result of many factors including an unfair election system, mishandling of votes in Florida, Al Gore's own failings in his campaign, and a legally indefensible Supreme Court decision. Perhaps, thrown into the mix, Nader deserves a tiny percentage of responsibility. However, so many other factors played such a greater role in the outcome that blaming it on Nader is, to me, blatantly unfair.

Those who are upset at Nader for playing the spoiler should stop screaming about Nader himself, and instead work to institute Instant Runoff Voting in order to eliminate the spoiler problem itself and keep it from happening again. I explain this point in depth in my commentary Fix the Election System, Don't Blame Nader.

But regardless of your feelings about the 2000 election, Nader must be admired for his tireless service in attempting to hold our government accountable to the public and weed out corruption for decades. His courage in speaking out about the "elephants in the room" of our political and economic systems - big money fixing elections, outlandish concentration of wealth, corporate power run amok - make him a true American icon that I believe history will treat kindly. He is well deserving of his place as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential Americans of the 20th century.

I have gotten the chance to meet Ralph Nader several times including at his September 10, 2003 speech at Bowling Green and at the Claim Democracy Conference in D.C. where I got a picture with him after he debated multi-party democracy on November 23, 2003.

You can visit his website at Nader.org.

Other Resources Related to Ralph Nader

Political Heroes Page | Main Politics Page