| This notion of a "spoiler" candidate truly tickles my funny bone. As Nader himself noted, the Democrats have nothing to blame but their own bumbling incompetence if they cannot sweep the election this year. They rely on this "lesser of two evils" mentality to claim victory, and I find the claim that their brand of evil is somehow lesser than the Republicans to be highly questionable. Both parties are dancing to nearly identical tunes as they were in 2000 when Nader made his first bid, for the same reasons he's citing now. The Dems didn't learn their lesson way back then, and they still haven't. While I certainly don't want to see McCain in the White House next year, neither do I want to see Clinton or Obama there as well. If neither of the two mainstream parties can provide a candidate that even comes within a mile of my views, why should I waste my vote on them? For indeed, that is much more of a wasted vote than putting my support behind someone I feel actually represents me. Turning that situation upside down, and saying the wasted vote is one spent on a "spoiler", I find eerily Orwellian.
nm420
"In this age, the mere example of nonconformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. --John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) |