You are right. Nader is an ultra leftist with HIS own agenda. I am not saying he ran to defeat Gore, but I am saying that he KNEW his candidacy would hurt Gore, he just didn't care.
To this day, decrepit old Gene McCarthy will not admit that his withholding of support for his fellow Minnesota senator and friend, hurt Humphrey in '68. Back then, there were very few independents(except for the Wallace splinter group).
McCarthy supporters whined when Humphrey got the nomination, the left rioted in the streets of Chicago, which produced the ultimate irony...Humphrey got stained with the blood of Johnson's actions in Vietnam PLUS he got associated(by TV display) with the actions of the left. That drove voters to Nixon in droves...Democratic voters at that. Moreover, McCarthy's failure to accept that, as VP, Humphrey had to preach the Company line, definitely cost Hubert Humphrey the votes of McCarthy supporters.
In spite of both of those defections, Humphrey lost by only 500,000 votes.
Had Humphrey been elected, many believe the pull out from Vietnam would have been accelerated, but we will never know for sure.
TG |
