Rob's Politics Blog

Another staggering blow to Saint Ralph's aspirations of attaining relevance occurred this week when four states denied him ballot access: Illinois, Maryland, Missouri and Virginia.

Illinois and Maryland are very safe states, so this won't affect the election. But the latter two are really good news. Virginia is close - maybe not a fully qualified swing state, but one that Bush needs to watch closely. Without Nader draining away support, Kerry might come closer to tying the state and forcing Dubya to divert resources there. Missouri is, of course, one of the Big Three. Nader's absence from the ballot there is marvellous news. Marvellous!

There's the predictable round of Naderite whining about this:

Nader spokesman Kevin Zeese said the candidate is contesting the decisions in all four states. He condemned "this really bizarre system in the United States where we have 50 different ballot access laws. They're really laws to keep people off the ballot and keep it a two-party system."

The funny thing is that Libertarians and other third parties seem to manage just fine with these requirements. Nader's procrastination of his presidential bid, his utter lack of resources and the real screwiness of his minions are making what is a doable task for an established third party with a known candidate a nightmare. But what kind of man would Nader be if he acknowledged his own fallibility and the monumental screwup he's made?