I have found that when Ralph Nader makes the news (since 2000) my opinion of him is directly correlated to his actions. I used to think of Nader as one of true working class heroes. He fought for workers' rights and safety regulations that irked corporations and promoted the general welfare of America.
Now he is hardly more than a has-been and known as the man that robbed Gore of the Presidency.
Even though Nader's votes did take away from a win, it was the way Gore ran his campaign that made him lose. Nevertheless, Nader has remained to be a thorn in the side of the Democratic party and all that oppose the current administration. Whatever he does now has a negative effect on the only party that has a chance to do some good for the country. Ideally, I'd love a third or even multi-party system here in the U.S. The problem is that that scenario is far away from the reality of today.
Furthermore, suing the Democratic party three years after the 2004 election and in the pre-dawn of the primary season is nothing but pure malice. His complaints against the Dems may have some credibility when confronted by a teacher in the elementary school playground, but this is Presidential politics. If the Democrats could see justice for the coup d'etat that the Supreme Court enabled, then we can take a look at this bullshit.
From Yahoo News:
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the DNC tried to bankrupt Nader's campaign by suing to keep him off the ballot in 18 states. It also suggests the DNC sent Kerry supporters to crash a Nader petition drive in Portland, Ore., in June 2004, preventing him from collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot.
The lawsuit seeks "compensatory damages, punitive damages and injunctive relief to enjoin the defendants from ongoing and future violations of the law."
Nader's attorney, Bruce Afran, argued that the DNC would be terrified of having the case come to trial. He said he hoped the committee would choose to settle the case and apologize.
You know what, I'll take care of this right now and apologize on their behalf. I am sorry that Nader is a crybaby. I am sorry that for all the talk of wanting a third party candidate, Nader could only muster a fraction of a percent of the electorate. I am sorry that he has made himself into a has-been and I am terribly sorry that President Gore isn't about to finish up his second term.
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