Darth Nader?

His campaign is destined for a third place finish with little or no support, but somehow his entry to the Presidential campaign is enough to attract some serious interest. He has absolutely no chance of becoming the next President of the United States. He’s running as a candidate not beholden to corporate America, which in these much documented times of corporate malfeasance should account for something. In a country that is celebrating Michael Moore as documentary making genius, you would think they would be holding this candidate as a beacon of all that is good. Yet here is Ralph Nader, portrait of Evil.

In a July 1st, article for Salon on line magazine, Lisa Chamberlain takes aim at the dark side of America’s champion of the little guy. Chamberlain interviews former friends and employees who characterize the Green Party’s nominee as paranoid, arrogant and mean spirited. He’s portrayed as a man who commands no loyalty amongst his past associates and treats many of them in an underhanded fashion, launching vitriolic attacks at the drop of a hat. Including a sabotaging of a former close friend’s chance at a federal job, by trashing the candidate to the FBI, all that is missing is a secret meeting with Joe McCarthy in the 1950's!

For many of his legion of followers this will read as the stuff of fiction, a hatchet job of the worst possible kind at the worst possible time. The article makes for a comprehensive besmirching the reputation of Consumer activism’s patron saint of good.

So why has this collection of Nader misdeeds been compiled and published? Vote’s baby, it’s all about votes. With each poll result showing that Nader is taking votes away from the main candidates the Democrats get a little bit more nervous. While much has been made of hanging chads and Florida chicanery in the last Presidential vote, it should not be lost in the shuffle that Nader’s candidacy took a fair amount of votes away from Al Gore in 2000. If we take as a given that a Bush voter wouldn’t be caught dead wandering into Nader territory, it’s a safe assumption to believe that those Democrats not inclined in the ways of Albert, parked their votes with the Nader camp. His vote totals according to some pundits sent New Hampshire and Florida into the Bush camp, the rest as they say is history.

Chamberlain continues on in the piece to show how former “Nader raiders” have taken to actively trying to keep his old followers from taking up the torch one more time. Fearful that Nader will once again hand the White House over to George W. Bush, they are in full attack. Old friends, former activists and long time supporters alike, many are turning their backs on the American icon. If as the article states he carries a grudge, keeps an enemies list and freezes people out for the smallest slight, then Nader is going to be a basket case after this article.

The man who fought General Motors and took on some of the largest corporate organizations in America had better have a tough skin. With the election campaign about to heat up, the marginalization of Nader is going to be pursued with full speed. This will be purely a Democratic Party operation; they have the most to loose with Nader getting press, attracting votes. If Bush weren't so busy with other matters, one could see him helping to keep the Nader bid alive and kicking.

Ms. Chamberlain’s article may be the opening salvo in this summer's battle for the White House. The coalition of those against the President will be using her thesis as the main platform in their bid to make George a one termer. In an election where every vote is going to count, many Democrats would like it if Nader’s votes weren’t available for counting at all!