# Vote for Nader! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2000, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478 "2000-11-03T00:08:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/1 "2000-11-03T00:08:47Z")
Hello! I have not felt this energized by politics in years and the reason is simple. This is the first presidential election in my lifetime where I can actually vote my conscience. Rather than being trapped between voting for a corporate-friendly centrist Republican and a corporate-friendly centrist Democrat and being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils, there is actually a candidate who has been fighting his whole life for social, economic and political justice in this country. Ralph Nader is leading the movement to take back our democracy from the power brokers, the moneyed interests, the greed mongers, the bought-and-sold politicians, and all those who dismiss the people from whom democracy has been stolen. He has spent 37 years working tirelessly and solely for all of our rights, and is widely considered to be the most honorable figure in public life – he is not now, nor ever has been, for sale. No one knows better than Ralph Nader that we have reached a point in history where corporate control has effectively shut out citizen and grassroots participation in our own government. This ever-increasing erosion of our most fundamental rights, especially the right to participate in our own government, has compelled him to run for president. In stark opposition to the other candidates, Ralph Nader promotes programs that empower people left behind by corporate power run amok. He has always worked, and continues to work, for truly just and populist goals, focusing on issues they would never touch: abolishing the racist death penalty, repealing Taft-Hartley and allowing millions of workers to unionize, guaranteeing a living wage, implementing universal health insurance, fully funding Head Start programs, and end the racist drug war to drastically reduce the vast population of our unfairly and shamefully overcrowded prisons (visit [http://www.VoteNader.org](http://www.VoteNader.org) for more campaign issue positions). Shut out of the media and the presidential debates (by the Commission on Presidential Debates, run by the former heads of the Republican and Democratic Parties) and taking zero money from corporations and zero “soft” money, Ralph is drawing crowds of thousands wherever he speaks – crowds never once matched by the other candidates, even with their multi-millions of dollars and saturating media coverage. So you can throw your vote away on the lesser of two evils, insuring ever-increasing evil every four years, or you can help build this movement that at the very least can be a powerful watchdog exposing the two ruling parties’ deceit and destruction, and at best will eventually elect a president, and more and more representatives, who serve the greater good of all of us. Gore, after hundreds of millions of campaign dollars and virtually unlimited, friendly media coverage, still ignites no passion in voters, and for good reason: he is a hereditary politician who stands for nothing and espouses whatever position he and his party handlers think will win him votes. And now the Democratic Party is panicking and labeling Ralph Nader a “spoiler.” They’re not about to blame their own ineptitude for their difficulties in defeating Bush, another hereditary politician with a dismal record and bumbling persona. With all his advantages, if Gore can’t earn his votes and beat a candidate as weak as G.W. Bush without resorting to such low-handed tactics, then is he worth your vote? We are heading down a very destructive road. But now we have the opportunity for a healthier society, one we can be proud to live in. This campaign is about fighting for our lives and our futures. It is not about which corporate candidate does what in the next four years; it’s about the rest of our lives. Only with millions of committed people working together in a progressive movement can we take our government back. The Green Party and Ralph Nader’s candidacy are our best and only hope for that future. With just five percent of the national popular vote, Ralph Nader and the Green Party will earn federal matching funds, making them an immediate force in national politics. Vote for the candidate who truly, honestly represents what you believe in. And has the record to prove it. I know most of you, and I think I know you well enough to know that in your heart of hearts, that candidate is Ralph. Vote for Ralph Nader and the Green Party on November 7. For detailed information and links go to [http://www.VoteNader.org](http://www.VoteNader.org). Thank you. “Welcome to the politics of joy and justice.” - Ralph Nader ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/2 "2000-11-03T00:20:22Z")
Wow. That was very… starry eyed and enthusiastic. Go you! Voted Nader in '96, voting Nader again in '00. ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/3 "2000-11-03T02:19:45Z")
Well, I’m not voting for him, but I’m gonna attend the Green Party convention (don’t know if it’s like _the_ official one, but it’s something of the sort) here in Long Beach. Hey, extra credit can go a long way in my econ class. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_the\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/db5fbb/32.png) [@Sam\_the\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_the_1)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/4 "2000-11-03T02:50:07Z")
Ralph Nader doesn’t really want to be president. He wants to be a figurehead to collect money. As such, you might vote for him, but would you want him to win? ---
**Author:** ![Aglarond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@Aglarond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglarond)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/5 "2000-11-03T03:08:36Z")
I have nothing against Ralph Nader as a person. I think he’s a good man. What’s thrown many of us off are his socialist policies. I like his civil rights views, but that’s pretty much where it ends. For example, he promotes more regulation of business, the cutting of the defense budget by over $100 billion, his views on gun control and socializing medicine, just to name a few. Please don’t view this as an attack on him, I just thought I’d share a perspective from the other side. It’s nice seeing another party making some headway, but there’s still a long way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Mamapotomus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/94ad74/32.png) [@Mamapotomus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mamapotomus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/6 "2000-11-03T03:15:15Z")
**jmullany** , will you marry me and breed idealistic children? 😉 I’m such a Nader supporter, and none of my friends care at all. I know we can’t really change anything, but it is such a good feeling to finally be able to vote my conscience. ---
**Author:** ![hypergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/49beb7/32.png) [@hypergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hypergirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/7 "2000-11-03T04:11:58Z")
I think Nader is a very good candidate, better than Gore, and certainly better than Bush. However, being that he is not a member of a major party, he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning. For that reason, voting Nafer is like voting Bush, and anyone that wants Nader as president definitely doesn’t want Bush. So for that reason, it’s an extremely bad idea to vote Nader unless you want a man like Bush who can’t string together a coherent sentence to run this country. ---
**Author:** ![Rasa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rasa/32/3578_2.png) [@Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasa)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/8 "2000-11-03T04:22:23Z")
The “a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush” argument just doesn’t work. The Nader supporters I know wouldn’t vote for either major-party candidate if Nader wasn’t on the ballot. So all Nader votes can’t be added to or subtracted from Gore’s numbers. Personally, I’d write Nader in (again) or vote Hollis if Nader wasn’t on the ballot. ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vote-for-nader/39478/9 "2000-11-03T17:58:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mamapotomus \* > **jmullany** , will you marry me and breed idealistic children? :eek: I don’t know from your profile – would we have to live in Houston?