Sunday, February 22, 2004
Eric Boehlert of Salon - who seemed the magazine's most pro-Nader writer 4 years ago - charts Nader's nadir. One rich revelation:
Medea Benjamin is pretty far left. It's doubtful that she has any great political disputes with Nader. What is interesting is the role played by Nader's apparent falling-out with the Greens, which may have further weakened him. His ability to organize nationwide is unproven at this point.
Another gem in the article: Public Citizen - an organization founded by Nader in 1971 - may remove his name from its letterhead. After Nader's last run, it lost 20% of its membership and took in $1 million less in contributions. Public Citizen is taking pains to tell people that Nader is unaffiliated with it.
We're left with Todd Gitlin's assessment:
Even some of Nader's closest progressive allies have their doubts. 'I love and appreciate him, but I definitely want to get Bush out of office, so I won't vote for him, which would be a first for me,' says Medea Benjamin, the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate from California in 2000. She says it's good that Nader is not running as a Green Party candidate, because it will allow someone else within the organization to gain national attention as a presidential candidate. "
Medea Benjamin is pretty far left. It's doubtful that she has any great political disputes with Nader. What is interesting is the role played by Nader's apparent falling-out with the Greens, which may have further weakened him. His ability to organize nationwide is unproven at this point.
Another gem in the article: Public Citizen - an organization founded by Nader in 1971 - may remove his name from its letterhead. After Nader's last run, it lost 20% of its membership and took in $1 million less in contributions. Public Citizen is taking pains to tell people that Nader is unaffiliated with it.
We're left with Todd Gitlin's assessment:
What Nader's decision amounts to is not logic but an exercise in monomania by a man who once accomplished great things and now believes that whatever he claims to accomplish is great by virtue of the fact that he claims it. Quixotic Nader, whose first run was tragedy, now tries farce. It's not funny.
