The Political Fiend

Yeah, I said it. I can appreciate what Ralph’s trying to do here. He’s clearly a principled man and believes the virtue of a truly democratic system. He told Tim Russert on Sunday that he’s jumping into the race because Obama, Clinton, and McCain haven’t done enough to regulate Corporations Gone Wild. Fine. He might be right about that. But he also thinks that he’ll siphon more voters away from McCain than from the Democratic nominee. Ralph seems to think lots of things. Back in 2000, where he might have cost Al Gore the presidency by sucking up around 96,000 Florida votes, he told America that Bush and Gore were basically the same guy.

And so now he’s at it again. Always the boy scout. But this time he can’t seem to see the forest for the trees. Normally I’d commend Nader for being the perennial candidate. John Edwards waited a while before dropping out this year. And Ron Paul has yet to bail. Keeping the little guy in the race forces the big candidates to play to the little guy’s audience; to win Edwards’ supporters, Obama and Clinton both widened their stances a bit.

Nader isn’t doing anything different, except that he’s doing it via a third party; his candidacy has thus always demonstrated that our two-party system is deeply entrenched. Nader represents the hope that one day that entrenchment may be no more. But seriously, now’s not the time. After 8 years of G.W. Bush, the Dems are starved for the White House. Ralph Nader, principled, righteous, and sympathetic as he may be, is poised to upset something that Dems have been waiting very patiently for.

What principles are we rooting for? To root for Nader now is to root against the immediate success of the Democrats. To root for Obama or Clinton is to tacitly accept the barriers we place in front of third party candidates running for higher office in a supposedly democratic system. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the DNC will hurl everything they have against Nader’s ballot petitions, and while it might be the right thing for the Democrats to do today, I’m not sure that it’s the right thing for America in the long run.

Photo by Don LaVange used under a Creative Commons license.

Yesterday HRC lashed out at Barack Obama for distributing a leaflet that attacked her proposed health care program. If you missed the video of her reaction I’ll summarize it for you. She was mad, and she compared Obama’s tactics to those of Karl Rove. Yeah, that Karl Rove. Overboard? A little. Good strategy? Maybe. Irresponsible? 100%, straight up.

The other day Obama came out and said what we all pretty much figured. He said that if he’d lost the popular vote in as many states has Hillary has, he’d likely face intense pressure from the DNC to end his bid for the nomination. He’s probably right; Hillary’s got the seniority, so even though her campaign is sagging worse than your grandma’s jowls the DNC probably won’t start giving her the courtesy nudge until after Texas and Ohio are decided. Until then, she’s gonna have to self regulate.

This campaign is running long. Hillary’s bleeding money, and Obama’s going to have to save his dough for the General Race. Now that the primary season is nearing a wrap, Hillary better start making nice. Assuming that Obama goes on to win the nomination, Hillary’s recent antics might hinder his ability to take the White House. She’s already managed to make race an issue, criticized Obama’s “inexperience”, highlighted his borrowing of language, and is in the process of potentially alienating weak Democrats and independents by hunting for super delegates and Obama’s pledged delegates.

To make matters worse, everyone’s favorite election spoiler, Ralph Nader looks poised to toss his hat into the ring, to the likely detriment of the Democratic nominee. He’s got an interview with Tim Russert this weekend, so this might be the real deal. HRC had better reign it in; she’s got a legacy to protect, and the way I figure it, her core constituents aren’t gonna be too pleased if she blows a cloud of negativity around Obama, especially if it doesn’t dissipate by November.

Photo by Marc Nozell used under a Creative Commons license.