Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Nader and the Real Numbers
In response to criticism over his decision to run, Ralph Nader claims that he will take more votes from Bush than from the Democratic nominee, that his votes will come from “conservatives and independents who are very upset with Bush administration policies.” That conclusion seems shaky and a crunching of the numbers from the 2000 election indicates that Nade absolutely took more votes from those who would have voted for Gore than Bush.
I disagree with Nader’s decision to run and do think it is more about him than about what is good for third party politics. But reasonable minds can differ on that. What disturbs me more is Nader’s unwillingness to either accept or acknowledge reality—he is much more likely to help Bush get re-elected than he is to get him voted out of office (though, ultimately, he probably won’t have an impact either way).
Nader and the Real Numbers
In response to criticism over his decision to run, Ralph Nader claims that he will take more votes from Bush than from the Democratic nominee, that his votes will come from “conservatives and independents who are very upset with Bush administration policies.” That conclusion seems shaky and a crunching of the numbers from the 2000 election indicates that Nade absolutely took more votes from those who would have voted for Gore than Bush.
I disagree with Nader’s decision to run and do think it is more about him than about what is good for third party politics. But reasonable minds can differ on that. What disturbs me more is Nader’s unwillingness to either accept or acknowledge reality—he is much more likely to help Bush get re-elected than he is to get him voted out of office (though, ultimately, he probably won’t have an impact either way).
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