Ralph Nader—Spoiler, or Just Spoiled?

Democrats are groaning and Republicans are grinning after Ralph Nader announced his latest quixotic run for the presidency on “Meet the Press” (transcript) Sunday. Nader is widely credited with having swung the 2000 election, in which he was the Green Party candidate, in favor of George W. Bush.

MSNBC describes Nader’s run as a “third party bid”–and therein lies the rub. What third party? The only party Nader represents is his own birthday party. Neither his campaign website nor the MSNBC story so much as mention a third party (though the Nader website does currently include an adorable photo of Mr. Nader circa 1935; he’ll celebrate his 74th birthday tomorrow.)

The Los Angeles Times opines that Nader’s run benefits voters who are disaffected from the two major parties, noting that “More choices among candidates mean more opportunities for you to make your views known in an election.”

The two-party duopoly that dominates American politics has a number of shortcomings. The most problematic is that alternative philosophies don’t get aired; the duopoly inevitably shrinks the debate towards the center. Also, dividing a nation of 300,000,000 into just two factions results in some mighty strange bedfellows; socialists in bed with Reagan Democrats on the left, and libertarians with social conservatives on the right. And the duopoly leads to some distorted binary thinking that makes every issue a black-and-white, either/or confrontation; either pro-choice or pro-life on abortion, either anti-war or pro-war on Iraq, either Chicken Little or complete denial on global warming.

To vote for a third party candidate has merit in that it erodes the duopoly. I voted for the Libertarian Party candidate, Michael Badnarik, in 2004 knowing that he didn’t have a snowball’s chance, but I also knew that my vote might enable more Libertarian candidates to get on the ballot in future elections. (For the record, Badnarek garnered nearly as many votes as Nader, who ran as an independent in ‘04, but only a small fraction of the media coverage. Go figure.)

If Ralph Nader were representing a legitimate third party, his candidacy would be and should be welcome. But if Nader is merely representing Nader (or his own ego, as satirist Andy Borowitz points out,) his run is little more than tilting at windmills.

At least we know who Nader’s runningmate should be: Sancho Panza.

Newsprism.com