Opinion: Why Nader needs to go
Maressa Brown
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With less than a month until what some are calling the most important election of our time, red-blooded Bush fans and true-blue Kerry supporters wait with baited breath for battleground states to determine who will rule the free world. They wait on the swing voters who see their decision on Election Day narrowed between the Elephants and the Donkeys. However, neither major party can discredit the undecided voters who may be attracted to the tempting alternative posed by the Independent candidate Ralph Nader.
For many voters whose concerns are not being addressed, professional activist Ralph Nader may appear a more digestible side dish to the at-times questionable main courses. But today's reality suggests that if Nader would like to see all that he has worked for as America's public defender remain intact, and would like to see progress made, he should walk away from the table. And if these undecided voters want to keep their dinner down, they ought to be dissuaded by all means from voting for Ralph Nader.
Given the mounting right wing evangelist agenda in the White House, this is not the time for Ralph Nader to run for president. It's true that the lifelong crusader has offered the current government and Sen. Kerry useful advice. His support of NOW and women's issues, his exit strategy from Iraq and his refusal to marginalize the environment are solid positions.
Nader's strength lies in his strategies for bringing citizens out not only on Election Day but throughout the year by increasing their awareness of the political system. What Ralph Nader should be doing today is not campaigning in Iowa, Pennsylvania or Oregon and asking for votes from individuals who could make or break the election. Instead, he should be encouraging these voters to support John Kerry, as the candidate clolser to the Nader agenda and his ticket to liberal development and social change.
Given the current condition of the economy, the war in Iraq, the theft of the people's rights by covert government action, it is unwise for anyone to cast a vote for Nader in protest of the two parties. In 2000, Nader voters claimed choosing between George W. Bush and Al Gore was like choosing between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. However, it is clear now that President Bush and his administration have worked against everything Nader and his supporters have stood for over the years.
Ralph Nader accuses this administraion of going corporate, but his run for the presidency may keep in office this administration that runs itself as a corporation and has ties with such troubled corporations as Halliburton, Enron or WorldCom.
Anyone tempted to vote for Ralph Nader agrees corruption must end. Ralph Nader's campaign associates the Democrats with the same corporate corruption and disconnected approach to domestic issues of President George W. Bush's administration. Swing voters must understand that this is not the case. For instance, John Kerry has promised to "revitalize contaminated industrial sites, get toxins out of communities, guarantee our children access to clean, safe parks and baseball fields, and take on traffic congestion and sprawl." Since Ralph Nader helped start the Environmental Protection Agency, perhaps he and his supporters would like to see the progress he's made continued by a candidate who has the ability to win and plans to protect and start curing the environment. With George W. Bush in office, those concerned about the air we breathe or the land on which we live should not be surprised by incidents like Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's appeal to Congress, in which he asked to exempt the Department of Defense from environmental rules that would affect 23 million acres of land.
Independent voters may be tempted to vote for Ralph Nader based on their displeasure with both the Democratic and Republican platform. However, the initial discontent with the two-party system that we saw in 2000 has escalated and morphed. No longer are swing voters faced with what could potentially be choosing between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Now, the divide is much more dramatic. Now, we are in a mire that will continue to see our country's domestic interests sink lower with every additional year President Bush is in office. This is an indicator that it is time to revamp the system. This cannot be done by voting for a candidate who has no chance to be elected president. This can only be done by voting George W. Bush out of office.