Abstract

Ralph Redux?

The author claims that, as Ralph Nader gears up for his second serious bid for the U.S. presidency, he faces serious opposition to his candidacy from within the Green Party. In a recent interview, Nader rejected any suggestion that a 2004 run would be hobbled by the legacy of 2000, a startlingly stubborn assertion given how many people, including Democratic Party leaders, grassroots activists, labor and environmental honchos, and liberal pundits, blame him for costing Al Gore the election. With a combination of irritation and amusement, Nader has watched Howard Dean adopt the style, if not the substance, of his 2000 campaign, no doubt aware that a Dean nomination would seriously hamper his ability to gain traction next spring and summer. This time, there's real opposition to his running coming from within the Green Party, and the prospect of an internal primary battle that may hinder or conceivably block Nader from receiving the party's nomination or push him into running as an independent. Larry Barnett, a Green who is the former mayor of Sonoma, California, and a current member of its city council, calls any presidential bid "an ego-centered exercise in futility." He asserts that the party is making steady inroads in local electoral politics that can eventually sustain more serious campaigns for higher office. The problem is that the Greens have no formal way to compel Nader to do anything he doesn't want to do.