n We’ve heard it all before: “Ralph Nader is running because of his ideals and principles, not to hurt the democrats” (“Nader should run for president,” pg. 6, Feb. 24) or “he’s against both parties because they’re essentially the same” (“Nader should not run again,” pg. 8, Feb. 23). This is so preposterous it is almost funny.
To begin with, if you honestly believe that Republicans and Democrats are the same, I urge you to do research on the different candidates and parties. On issues from the handling on the war on terror to the environment to fiscal policy, they are as far apart as can be. The idea that they are “too much alike” is an old lie used by extremist political parties to justify their campaigns and has no shred of truth in it.
Furthermore, Ralph Nader has proved that he is willing to work with Republicans to undermine the Democratic Party. In the 2000 election, he chose to campaign in the swing states that would decide the election despite pleas from his family, campaign workers and friends to do otherwise. He even went so far as to say he would rather have Bush elected because he would help “mobilize” Nader’s followers.
For all his lofty rhetoric about the amount of money in politics, he had no problem allowing the Republican Leadership Council to spend $100,000 airing commercials in which Nader attacked Gore. Apparently Nader decided that if you can’t beat them, then you best join them.
In the end, all of Nader’s hard work paid off: George Bush became president. Had Nader not been running, exit polls of Nader voters show us that Gore would have won Florida and New Hampshire and would have defeated Bush. Nader got the congratulations the Republican Party felt he was due in the summer of 2001, when he attended a weekly strategy meeting of Republican special interest groups and was cheered for the part he played in beating Al Gore.
Ralph Nader had one purpose in running for president in 2000: to make sure that the Democrats lost, and in this he was supremely successful. In reading James Downing’s letter, I found myself wondering where Nader’s “principles” were when he was meeting with right-wing interest groups and taking their then-unregulated soft money.
In the end I hope that people will remember the 2000 election this November when they go to the polls, and how Ralph Nader fought for the Republican Party, not any principle or ideal. Apparently the “little guy” that Ralph Nader is fighting for is George Bush, and his principles come with a “for sale” sign.
Nicholas Kassotis CAS ’04 Vice-President Boston University College Democrats
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