Green, Reform parties may both tap Nader

[Freddie Stubbs]

By MARIA RECIO

Knight Ridder Newspapers


WASHINGTON - Q: Ralph Nader, who is running for president as an independent, will be listed on the ballot in November as:

a) the Reform Party candidate

b) the Green Party candidate

c) an independent

d) all of the above.

The answer is likely to be "d." Nader has made it clear that he will use whatever tactic helps him get on state ballots, and he has lots of options.

In 2000, Nader was the Green Party candidate and won 2.7 percent of the popular vote while on the ballot in only 43 states. In Florida and New Hampshire, if only a small number of Nader voters had gone to Democrat Al Gore, he would have defeated Republican George W. Bush. Democrats fear a repeat this year.

An Associated Press poll released Friday put Nader's support at 6 percent nationally, with Democratic candidate John Kerry in a virtual tie with Bush. The poll, taken March 1-3, was of 771 registered voters and had an error margin of 3.5 percentage points.

more: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/8136979.htm

[gulfcoastliberal]

1. Damn him... n/t

[GiovanniC]

2. I've Heard Nader's AP Numbers...

6 percent, they say. Pray tell where? Are they clustered in certain geographic areas that are already essentially liberal "strongholds"? Not to say that Nader is not a damaging influence -- he is -- but how much so? If Nader's support is geographically clustered in "safe" blue states, then Kerry may still be leading Bush electorally.

Also, I believe that the 6% number is an overestimation. I've heard of no one who voted for Gore going to Nader, but lots of Nader voters who plan to vote for Kerry.

[BradCKY]

3. Well

If I'm not mistaken the new Washington Post poll has Kerry 48 Bush 44 and Nader 3.

[Zero Gravitas]

4. Nader's Legacy:

Eight years of George W. Bush. Period.

Any good he did before 2000 will be undone by 8 years of fascistic direct corporate rule. Thanks Ralph, you bastard.

[BradCKY]

5. Exactly

If he really cared about his agenda. He would realize how much worse we would be with Bush in another 4 years. Its obvious he doesn't and thus I have lost all respect for him.

[info being]

6. Nader will test Kerry's diplomatic skills

If Kerry is put in a vulnerable position by Nader, there's no reason he can't reach out to him and negotiate in order to get him to withdraw from the race.

[anarchy1999]

7. Definition of facism: Nader speaks out most on corporatization and

the failure of both the Dems and the Repubs to do anything about it.


Mussolini's definition:

"Fascism should more properly be called ‘corporatism,' since it is the marriage of government and corporate power."

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=15418


The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.

fascism


(fsh´zm) (KEY) , totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life. The name was first used by the party started by Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 until the Italian defeat in World War II. However, it has also been applied to similar ideologies in other countries, e.g., to National Socialism in Germany and to the regime of Francisco Franco in Spain. The term is derived from the Latin fasces. 1

Characteristics of Fascist Philosophy
Fascism, especially in its early stages, is obliged to be antitheoretical and frankly opportunistic in order to appeal to many diverse groups. Nevertheless, a few key concepts are basic to it. First and most important is the glorification of the state and the total subordination of the individual to it. The state is defined as an organic whole into which individuals must be absorbed for their own and the state’s benefit. This “total state” is absolute in its methods and unlimited by law in its control and direction of its citizens. 2
A second ruling concept of fascism is embodied in the theory of social Darwinism. The doctrine of survival of the fittest and the necessity of struggle for life is applied by fascists to the life of a nation-state. Peaceful, complacent nations are seen as doomed to fall before more dynamic ones, making struggle and aggressive militarism a leading characteristic of the fascist state. Imperialism is the logical outcome of this dogma.

http://www.bartleby.com/65/fa/fascism.html