And the there was Nader ... and ... Howard Dean?
Soon after the Blair thing Howard Dean debated Ralph Nader, and the thing that made it a worthwhile event was that the issue they were debating was the only one that has any relevance for a discussion between Dean and Nader: third party candidacies and their meaning in the 2004 election.
It was an asymmetrical confrontation because Nader is running for president and Dean isn't. Nader was presenting his pitch as a presidential candidate, and kept going back into that mode, as if you pushed a button and the process began again, often repeating almost the same ideas over and over. And also repeating votenader.org a lot. It was a sales pitch, and normally the other candidate is engaging in something similar, and the multiplied effect of them all doing that is pretty nauseating.
But Dean wasn't promoting himself as a candidate, he wasn't selling his positions. He acknowledged that he agreed with most of Nader's positions, perhaps even more of them than he agrees with Kerry on. He praised Nader's career of doing many things that have helped the lives of many people. And he said, we need you on our side, Ralph.
Dean was very hard hitting on his particular point. He accused Nader of being disingenuous in saying that he wouldn't help the Republicans and how he was accepting help from radically right people. But the context was set by Dean's one single point: Having the Bush administration in power is a national emergency and all reasonable people have to join together to get them out.
Dean is the pragmatist. Nader was abstract. Kept returning to his litany about all the horrible things that are a result of corporate influence on the whole political system, Democrats and Republicans. Dean was just saying, yes, you are right. And I can tell you even more about what the Bush administration is doing right now that we have to stop. We have a better chance of achieving the kind of reform we need if Kerry is elected than Bush. Simple. But Nader didn't address it. He was fighting a different fight. But there was no opponent in the room. It was a little crazy.
Dean gives the impression of being here right now. He's a bottom line man. He gets to the heart of an issue quickly and he is about the strategies to get things done. Nader has achieved some great things, but in the world of electoral politics he is just a philosopher spouting his beliefs. And he's right that a majority of Americans agree with his positions. But in terms of political reality, he is working against his own cause. And why he can't see that, or won't acknowledge it is a mystery. It looks like ego. It might be just that he's a little out of synch with the real world he inhabits, but may not see so clearly any more. He's a bit robotic in his relentless struggle right now. A little Quixote-like. What does he really hope to accomplish?
He referred a lot to the future, Rome wasn't built in a day, we are looking beyond November. But unfortunately right now it is very hard to see any hope beyond November if the Bush administration holds on to the power it wrested illegitimately in the first place and then proceeded to abuse daily. Seeing him on CSPAN only solidified my previous take on him. RALPH!!! WAKE UP!!! But much more important, citizens wake up! Ralph is sleepwalking. He's right about what needs to be changed, but his presence in the race helps George W. Bush stay in office.
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