Before I begin, there is no cite on Ralph Nader being in the employ of the GOP. That’s because there’s no evidence of it. It is (probably) not true. This post is about what would happen if it were discovered that he was, or if it would even matter.
A friend of mine (Mosier) and I had a discussion earlier about Ralph Nader. Nader recently said he is considering running for President in 2008, and has said before he would run if Hillary got the Democratic nomination. I joked that he’s doing nothing more by running than proving he is under the employ of the GOP. It was funny. And then I started thinking about it… To you all I pose the questions:
Say Nader was found to be secretly working for the GOP. Say we found a check from the head of the GOP for a sizable amount with the words “For running in 2008” written on it. Would this be a big story, politically? Plenty of people think he cost Gore the election in 2000, but now could we absolutely blame him for giving us eight years of Bush (four to eight years of Gore being any better is a topic I won’t broach)? Would anyone care that the Republicans went to such extremes to win the Presidency? Would it affect their legitimacy? How would you react to such a story? And how would it compare to other methods of rigging elections?
I’m not bringing this up as a means to bash Republicans or their party, just hoping this sparks an interesting conversation! (Feel free to replace Nader and the GOP with Bloomberg or whomever and the Dems, if you feel so inclined.)
Not much would happen; he’s been accused of it before. Certainly, the Republicans help his campaigns along when they can ( by gathering signatures to get him on the ballot, for example ); whether he’s corrupt, or just too stupid to realize they are using him is the question.
Not a ringer - just a willing dupe. They have petitioned for ballot access for him, so clearly Republicans like him in the race. Whether it’s his ego that blinds him to reality or he truly believes in his cause? Well, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. People that vote for him, though, get no such charity.
If they found a check stamped “for running in 2000,” it would mean more. Blaming the whole thing on Nader overlooks a variety of factors anyway, like the failings of the Gore campaign. And since some people already blame Nader anyway, I wonder how much this would really matter. It would prove he’s a vain tool and make his supporters look like dupes, but he has fewer of those now than he did eight years ago.
For about 48 hours, yes. Then the Republicans would say some Democrat or other gave $5 to a conservative third-party candidate and argue that proves the Democrats do it, too. Eventually it would dissolve into squabbling and people would tune it out.