A letter to the editor in Wednesday’s New York Times reminded me why I hate Ralph Nader and his Green Party supporters.
The letter from Theresa Amato, Nader’s Campaign Manager responding to Thomas Friedman’s assertion that Nader cost Al Gore the election in 2000, reads in part:
“The writer blames Ralph Nader for George W. Bush, despite the millions of Democrats who voted for Mr. Bush in 2000; Al Gore’s loss of his home state; and the Florida legal battles”
My problem with Nader and the Greens is that they won’t take responsibility for their actions.
It is undeniable that Nader cost Gore the election and is therefore responsible for the election of George Bush. I will repeat the obvious – if Nader was not on the ballot in Florida, Gore would have won. Case closed.
All the other reasons the Naderites give to show that Gore lost for other reasons are irrelevant. Even if all of them are true, Gore still would have won if Nader did not run.
I have no problem with Nader or a Greenie saying that they were justified in not standing aside for Gore because they felt Gore was not progressive enough. That is a perfectly justifiable position, though one I disagree with. But they should have to live with the consequences of their actions and not attempt to deny the undeniable.
The Greens position is analogous to a drunken driver who, after getting in a car crash, points out that a bartender served him 5 drinks, a cop failed to stop him and a stop sign was obscured, so the drunk driver wasn’t responsible for totaling the car. That doesn’t wash and neither does the Nader/Green Party BS.