Sunday, February 22, 2004
4 years ago, editorial opinion at The Nation split down the middle on the question of Nader's candidacy. What a difference a Bush makes. The editors made a plaintive plea to him recently, stating the following in An Open Letter to Ralph Nader:
One can't help but be moved - until one remembers that The Nation's prior ambivalence is partly responsible for this mess. If Nader has already lost the signature magazine of dedicated lefties, this bird is gonna be flightless.
- The context for an independent presidential bid is completely altered from 2000, when there was a real base for a protest candidate. The overwhelming mass of voters with progressive values--who are essential to all efforts to build a force that can change the direction of the country--have only one focus this year: to beat Bush. Any candidacy seen as distracting from that goal will be excoriated by the entire spectrum of potentially progressive voters. If you run, you will separate yourself, probably irrevocably, from any ongoing relationship with this energized mass of activists. Look around: Almost no one, including former strong supporters, is calling for you to run, compared with past years when many veteran organizers urged you on.
One can't help but be moved - until one remembers that The Nation's prior ambivalence is partly responsible for this mess. If Nader has already lost the signature magazine of dedicated lefties, this bird is gonna be flightless.
