Sigh

Ralph Nader has set up an exploratory committe to see whether or not he should run this year. In a letter on the site, Nader writes:

"Welcome to our exploratory website, which could be subtitled -- for both you and me -- 'keep an open mind and evaluate the variables.' We are a country dedicated to the pursuit of justice and happiness. This requires unfettered debate, an abundance of choices and perspectives, authentic electoral competition, clear articulation of issues and, finally, tolerance, if disagreement, for those who speak to these issues.

Review our postings and please let us know what you think. Orchestrated campaigns and anonymous utterances, pro or con, are not very helpful and will be ignored. But how we best inspire our country's politics and bring out the best from our fellow Americans is an open question for exploration."

I am unrepentant about having voted for him in the past, but... I do believe that he would be a president I could be pretty proud of and could believe in. But so could Kucinich (even more so). In fact, Kucinich has showed more integrity to me by answering the NPAT, something Nader has not done.

Since neither Nader nor Kucinich will be nominated by a party that has any chance of defeating W, what are the risks? Would it be better if, instead of running himself, Nader put his support and energy behind Kucinich? Would this create real possibility for a viable third party in America? Would Nader listen if a number of us e-mailed him and asked him to consider this?

I have always believed in voting for who I truly believe, in my heart, would be the best person for the job. I refuse to vote for someone just because the tv or newspapers tell me to. I think that if everyone did that, we would no longer have a two-party system and the United States would be a very different -- hopefully better and stronger -- place.

But we don't. We like to vote for winners. We like to pick out the "best" not according to policies but according to who is most likely to win. I hate that. It sucks. But it's how things usually are.

Still. I really don't care for the current administration. While my ideals say that we need great candidates in whom we believe, a teeny part of me wonders if sometimes it isn't more important to defeat the evildoers in our own back yard...

I don't have any answers, just musings... (See? Librarians don't know everything!)