Ralph Nader is running for President...Again
Hooray...
Ralph Nader said Sunday he will run for president as a third-party candidate, criticizing the top White House contenders as too close to big business and pledging to repeat a bid that will “shift the power from the few to the many.”
Hillary Clinton called Nader's announcement unfortunate:
Clinton was unaware, until questioned about by reporters, that Nader had announced Sunday morning on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had decided to enter the 2008 race, and was clearly surprised at the news.
“Well that’s really unfortunate. I remember when he did this before. It did not turn out very well for anybody, most especially our country,” she said. “This time I hope it doesn’t hurt anybody. I hope it’s kind of a passing fancy that people don’t take too seriously.”
Didn't turn out well for "anybody"? Speak for yourself, Hillary. Anything Hillary thinks is unfortunate has to be a good thing. Barack Obama weighed in on Nader's announcement:
"Anybody has the right to run for president if they file sufficient papers," Mr. Obama responded. "The job of the Democratic Party is to be so compelling that a few percentage of the vote going to another candidate is not going to make any difference."
[...]
Mr. Nader has reserved harsh words for both Mr. Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in recent weeks, and is expected to announce he will run again in an appearance today on NBC's "Meet the Press," the same forum where he announced his 2004 effort.Asked about Mr. Nader's criticism, Mr. Obama paused, then added:
"Mr. Nader is somebody who, if you don't listen and adopt all of his policies, thinks you're not substantive. He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work.
In January Nader had this to say about Obama:
"His record in the Senate is pretty mediocre," Nader said. "His most distinctive characteristic is the extent to which he censors himself. He hasn't performed as a really progressive first-term senator would."
His "self-censorship," Nader said, "is a reflection of character."
Hard to argue that, but thank God for small favors.
How much impact will Nader have this time? Probably none at all. Unless Hillary Clinton pulls off a miracle, the Naderites of 2000 have aligned themselves enthusiastically with Barack Obama. Having Nader attack him from the Left won't hurt Obama's prospects in the middle, where he needs to draw more heavily than John McCain.
Michael Bloomberg could be a fly in Obama's anointment, though:
The bigger worry for Obama is Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire mayor of New York City ay still launch a vanity run for the White House, and he would challenge both McCain and Obama for the center. However, given Bloomberg's nanny-state tendencies, he will likely draw far more support from Obama than from McCain. If both Nader and Bloomberg enter the race, Obama could get squeezed from both sides.
If nothing else, Nader's presence will provide a few laughs as he gets reviled for blocking Obama's path to victory, even if it's just a small roadbump.
Works for me.
Bloomberg and Nader might save us.
Posted by: Scott Allan | February 24, 2008 at 09:33 PM
If not, maybe Huckabee will loan us one of his miracles :)
Have you heard anything lately about Bloomberg?
Posted by: mad_cow | February 24, 2008 at 09:54 PM
Do I hear a laughing hyenns somewhere? Oh, maybe it's me!
Posted by: linda | February 24, 2008 at 10:07 PM
LOL @ linda in spite of her typo.
Has anyone read about two lawsuits that may or may not have an effect in the presidential election? You can read about Obama being sued @ http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=57222.
"Clintons to face fraud trial" can be read @ http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56868. Peter Paul is suing the Clintons for fraud.
Julie, I gave up on the tinyurl thingy after it apparently messed up my Firefox browser...a problem I still haven't been able to resolve.
Posted by: Don | February 25, 2008 at 11:31 AM
I heard Bloomberg was supporting Nader's right to run for office. Could be promising.
Posted by: Scott Allan | February 25, 2008 at 05:43 PM
Don, not nice to make fun of the visually impaired! Typing w/o typos is a real challenge! But thanks for the giggle!
Btw, Nader got his feathers ruffled when Tim R. told him he'd be the oldest person in the race!
Posted by: linda | February 25, 2008 at 07:17 PM
Don, I'm so sorry you've had so much trouble because of me and my tinyurl. I've been in and out of here so I haven't been able to follow up on stuff, but I KNOW somehow we can solve your problem. How could trying to use tinyurl have caused such a problem? I use it all the time. Hmmm...
Linda, I heard the laughing whatchamacallits, too! I thought it was just those voices inside my head again...:)
Scott, We can only hope.
Posted by: mad_cow | February 25, 2008 at 07:26 PM
Julie, I'm not blaming tinyurl and certainly not you for my problem. Either I did something wrong or Google just decided to make my life miserable. I finally uninstalled my Firefox browser and then downloaded it again thiking that would eliminate Google and my browser would operate....but I ended up in the same situation I was in before. Go figure!
Posted by: Don | February 26, 2008 at 06:03 AM
We've had bad luck with Firefox for some reason. Everytime we put it on the computer, it shuts it down, so we gave up and so far so good!
Posted by: linda | February 26, 2008 at 06:26 PM