Motion for a Recess

I’m all for more options when it comes to voting in the US. But Ralph Nader’s recent entrance into the 2008 US Presidential elections makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. His announcement conjured up images of the 2000 Florida debacle between Gore and Bush. Most political analysts have realized the effect Nader’s votes had in Florida and how it took away crucial votes from Gore, which would have won him that state and put him in the White House. Republicans are, of course, jumping for joy and encouraging Nader’s run including Republican nominee Mike Huckabee who welcomed Nader’s entrance by noting, “I think it always would probably pull votes away from the Democrats, not the Republicans.”

But what disturbs me the most (but doesn’t really surprise me) is the fact that Ralph Nader’s 2004 campaign contributions were heavily backed by deep-rooted Republicans who were/are intense Bush supporters. A report done by the San Francisco Chronicle revealed Nader’s Republican supporters raised over $275,000 for his campaign and that 10% of the major donors donated and raised money for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign. Now, the reason I am bothered by this fact is not because these people are Republicans and all of them should burn in Hell. But Nader, who claims to be an anti-corporate and anti-war candidate, accepts a good amount of money from people who contribute to the corporate influence in Washington D.C. and some of whom are also pro-War.

Granted this is an old article, but you can imagine how many Republicans are worried with this years elections after observing the general populations wariness with the reckless and scandal-plagued Bush administration. With strong Democratic candidates (Clinton and Obama) who are currently fighting for the nomination and, in itself, are screwing up the perfect chance to win over more Democrat votes, Nader’s entrance is as perfect as the Republicans can hope for. And although Nader did win over less than 1% of the general vote in 2004 (due in no small part to the dubious ethics of the Democratic strategy), he still poses a threat to a Democratic victory in November.