To: ColtonGang who wrote (4050 ) 10/30/2000 1:13:54 PM From: JLS Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 10042 nadertrader.com Nader's Traders By Jamin Raskin Jamin B. Raskin is a professor of constitutional law at American University. This article represents only his own views and not those of the Gore or Nader campaigns. Posted Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2000, at 4:00 p.m. PT According to the Washington Post and the Al Gore campaign, the presidential race is now so close that a strong showing by Ralph Nader in 10 swing states could help give George W. Bush the 270 Electoral College votes he needs to win. This leaves hundreds of thousands of progressive Nader supporters in swing states such as Maine, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, and New Mexico with a dilemma: Should they vote their hearts for Ralph and make sure he gets the 5 percent of the popular vote needed to qualify the 2004 Green Party presidential candidate for federal funding? Or should they vote strategically for Al to stop George? Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of frustrated Gore voters trapped in the Republican-controlled states of Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, Utah, and Alaska face a quandary of their own. Bush holds such a commanding lead in these places that even if Gore supporters cast their ballots for their man, he won't win any of those states. These are truly wasted votes. But wait! There is a way for Gore voters trapped in Republican states to liberate Nader supporters in the tossup states to vote for Gore without actually abandoning their support for Nader and a strong Green Party in the future. The key is a variation on a voting device used in the Senate called "pairing," whereby senators on opposite sides of issues match up their votes if they are going to be away from Washington.. (This arrangement is so formal that when the Congressional Record reports the ayes and nays on a vote, it reflects the pairs by name.) continued: slate.msn.com voteswap2000.com