Are there any pledged Nader supporters on here?

[mot78]

I hear people come to his defense, but I have yet to see a single person on DU who will campaign for him or who says they'll vote for him.

[morgan2]

1. i probably will...

Depending on preelection polls in my state and who gets the nomination, but it seems pretty likely I can safely vote for Nader.

[aquanut]

3. What do you mean "safely"?

I think some people will want to kill you if you vote for Nader and Bush wins. :-)

[unfrigginreal]

4. LOL

The poster has probably already been added to the list that some have announced they are keeping. :D

[maddezmom]

6. please say you're joking :)

someone is keeping a list?

[unfrigginreal]

7. Unfortunately, I'm not joking

but they're doing it for the good of the Party don't you see? :-)

[MoonRiver]

12. That sounds pretty ridiculous.

If * "wins", or is close enough to cheat his way in again, because of Nader, those who voted for Ralph will have to live in the same fascist, hate filled, totalitarian, far rightwing nation as the rest of US. But they'll have the added torment of knowing they played a significant part in bringing US to that state of affairs. But, oh wait, I forgot there's no difference between the two parties. And that's a good thing (:D) cause after 4 more years of * there will LITERALLY only be one party. So maybe the Democratic Party haters on the left won't even notice that shredded Constitution.

[library_max]

13. Hey guys and gals!

I think there's a distinct possibility that by "safely," mot78 meant that he or she lives in a safe red or safe blue state and is unlikely to influence the outcome of the election by voting for Nader.

[library_max]

26. I meant morgan2, sorry. /nt

[Township75]

2. I am more motivated to vote for him then Kerry.

Insert "That's a vote for Bush." comment on the line below:

_________________________________________________________________

[library_max]

9. Never mind "That's a vote for Bush."

Let me just ask you this - what do you intend a vote for Nader to accomplish? Do you expect him to win, or have any chance of winning? Do you think that enough people voting for Nader will force changes in the Democratic Party? Or what?

People who vote for the Kerry may want Kerry in the White House or they may want Bush out of it. Their motive is reasonably clear. I'm not sure I understand yours.

[californiahippie]

5. From a California liberal

I like everything he stands for but I will persuade people to vote for Kerry. I don't think it was a bright move for him to run this year.

[WitchWay]

8. Kucinich or Nader

Fingers crossed Kucinich will win. I think there may be big surprises. If not, I support Nader. I will not vote for a pro-war candidate. How can you have loyalty to a party, who has no loyalty to you?

Dennis Kucinich so energetic. He did great in Hawaii. I know that doesn't sound possible, but he's attacked Greenspan trying to cut social security in a way that was far stronger than Kerry. Also, I think his new ads are awesome. I spent today watching the videos and commercials on his site, and reading up on his campaign. He is a really special candidate -- and I hope everyone realizes this before prejudging him.

Otherwise, it's Nader all the way for me. Sorry, I have ideals and I'm NOT backing down for them just because the Dem strategists are too stupid to try to create a party that gives a shit about me and encompases my ideals. If they don't want my ideals, or think I ought to be more pragmatic and tow their line, f&ck them.

If you think Nader cost the vote last election, look into this real deeply. Look at STATISTICAL exit polling in Florida - instead of doing grade-school arithmetic. If you do -- you will see that WITHOUT Nader, Bush would have "won" Florida by a HUGER margin.

Nader has been unfairly demonized and villified by the Democratic Party. Nader has faced smear campaigns, false allegations, bullying, mean spirited attacks, ostracism, even threats on his life. I think this will begin to cease, though if people really look at the statistics and read what Ralph Nader has been working on all these years, instead of HATING him.

Democrats can scream and yell all they want that Nader is a vain, egotistical, misguided, monomaniacal ogre or that his supporters are rarefied fools -- but FOR GOODNESS SAKE, get a grip! IF you don't know anything about him, I would urge you to take a look. Nader has spent his whole life selfishly working and fighting for the good of the public. And if that's an ego-trip, I'm aboard.

[library_max]

10. Exit polls mean diddley.

People lie to exit pollers. The exit poll data explicitly contradicts the actual votes. If the exit polls were counted instead of the votes, Bush clearly won Florida.

My personal opinion about Nader doesn't matter. I want to know what you hope to accomplish if you end up voting for him. Do you think there is any chance he will be elected president? If not, what's the point? If you're voting totally for symbolic reasons, you're just leaving the real decision up to people less progressive than yourself.

[WitchWay]

14. Pragmatism is a corporate-kind-of trick...

I will vote for the candidate who best represents me in hopes that they would win, of course. If they don't win, I have still showed where I stand as part of the electorate.

If a candidate wants my vote, they will accomodates my concerns and issues in their platform, and can, therefore, "earn" my vote.

If a candidate doesn't want to do things that make me feel encouraged to vote for them, then I will find someone else to vote for, who better represents me.

Corporate peer pressure, media and polls will not influence me to vote for a pro-corporate candidate, who will only represent corporate issues.

[library_max]

15. It's a vote, not a name tag.

Don't you understand how democracy works? The voters vote. The votes are added up and the candidate with the most votes wins. In a presidential election, the Electoral College complicates matters - the candidate with the most votes in each state wins that state, and then the candidate with the most state electoral votes wins.

All of which means that the purpose of voting is to decide who will govern this nation and who won't. It has no other purpose. It's not to make you feel better. It's not to define you as a person. It's not to show where you stand. It's to elect candidates. If you don't vote to elect a candidate, you might as well write in Donald Duck for all you're accomplishing.

In a nation of 200 million people plus, what do you think are the odds that either of the two candidates who might win are going to be able to "accomodates my concerns and issues in their platform"? Politics is wholesale, not retail. All you get is to choose which one of two is closest to your "concerns and issues." Is it Bush, who cut taxes on the rich and invaded Iraq, or the other guy?

Or you could throw away your vote and feel pure. But, as I said, that just leaves the real decision up to the rest of us. For all practical purposes, you might just as well not vote at all as vote third party.

[WitchWay]

16. If "voting is not to make you feel better"

...then go ahead and vote for Bush, for all I care.

Also, there are more than two candidates who might win running.

Also, please don't try to force the rest of the voters into a narrow corporate status-quo mind set in order to try to quell creative political momentum. I am sure, like yourself, there are a lot of interests who wish to qeull political energies. But people won't buy into these tricks, not with all of the education and experience they've been receiving from the primaries. And not when they start to really learn who the candidate is.

So please stop assuming that I am a narrow thinker, or that I am naive when it comes to poltical movements, upheavals, change, shifts and growth. I am a Witch, after all, and I am not bought into the forms of thinking that you are espousing. I can sense that there are things abrew, and you are obviously afraid of them. Thus, your rhetorical tricks.

[library_max]

17. "Trick" or treat?

Your response was very illuminating. A Witch (capital W), eh? Maybe you can conjure up a ghost of a chance for Nader. It'll be more than any other third party candidate has ever had. I'd say look at history, but that'd just be another one of my "tricks."

And don't worry, I no longer assume that you are a narrow thinker, or any other particular kind of thinker at all.

[Deaner1971]

22. Where was Nader?

What has he done in the last four years? If he wants to change things why doesn't he run for governor or congress? He runs for president and then sits on his arrogant ass for four years doing nothing. If he wants to run for office, why is only the White House suitable for a man with no experience in office? Why wouldn't he want to "help" in any way that he could?

What should the party do? Wait for a candidate who has views that match every single member of the party? No one does that. Our party is great because we include people with veiws that span the religious/economic/ethinic spectrum. You can't make everyone happy with one single position statement. If it always has to be "my way or the highway", what are you really bringing to the table?

How do you feel about your party at the local level? Are you agreed with a local party meetings? One party cannot say, "Well the majority has spoken but, we will disregard their views in favor of a vocal minority." That is what the repubs do when the Far-Right screams its intolerant head off. I want a party that finds compromise that allows us all to win in some areas and agree-to-disagree in others.

[mike_c]

11. I'll certainly vote for Nader before I'll vote for Kerry....

But I sincerely hope to vote for Kucinich.

[MadHound]

18. Well, let's see here

If Kucinich gets the Dem's nod, then I will vote for him.
If it is Kerry/Edwards, I will vote for the Green Party nominee(shaping up to be either Camejo or Cobb). If the Greens decide to throw in with the Dems, I will vote for Nader.

Sorry, but I just cannot continue to enable the two party/same corporate master system of government. My goal is taking back our government from the corporate powers that be, and by voting for either the Dems or 'Pugs I would simply be enabling the same ol' same ol' corporate corruption of government, albeit with the Dems it does come in the minty flavored Kinder Gentler Form of Corporate Screwing.

[Deaner1971]

23. Why are you on a "two party/same corporate master" website

Just curious since you seem to deride all Dems but, Kucinich. I am sure you could find a Green website where they share your views. I just don't know why you would be on a website for members of one of the two parties that you seem to loathe.

[library_max]

24. It didn't work. It doesn't work. It isn't going to start working.

Third party voting has never changed anything in this old US of A. Why do you think it's going to magically start working now, just because you want it to? Or are you saying you don't care whether you accomplish anything or not, so long as you can feel pure?

[Monte Carlo]

19. I voted for Nader in 2000, and I want my vote to count this time.

I got a healthy dose of skepticism and reality shortly after the Florida fiasco, and no matter how I figured it, my vote counted for nothing or against myself at worst. Not this time.

[Forkboy]

20. No one's vote counted last time

[library_max]

25. Yes they did, in every state but Florida.

And we're ready for that BS this time.

[PVnRT]

21. Are you now, or have you ever been...

Sorry, started channeling another witch hunt there...