Tuesday, February 24, 2004
In the wake of Nader's announcements, I've been rereading articles from the fall of 2000 about Nader's candidacy then. They retain their relevance at the time since, no matter what else has changed in our world, Ralph Nader is every bit the fossil he was that autumn, only slightly more calcified this time. Jonathan Chait's Fall Guy looked at his basic irrationality, and also aptly predicted what would happen when he tried again:
And, prophetically,
- Nader's dishonesty stems in part from his dogged unwillingness to admit any fact that complicates the rationale for his candidacy. He begins with the unshakable premise that the electorate is a vast left-wing majority waiting to be awakened from its apathy. Any evidence to the contrary--which would justify liberal pragmatism--must be dismissed. So when a TV anchor brought up Gore's poor showing in West Virginia, Nader replied that Gore had lost because "he went down with King Coal instead of the people of West Virginia." It's not that coal miners were afraid that Gore's environmentalism would cost them their jobs!
And, prophetically,
. . . . Nader's candidacy will serve as an object lesson in the futility of voting for a third party. Each of Bush's conservative accomplishments will lay bare Nader's dishonesty, and the destructive power of left-wing maximalism will be extinguished for a generation.
