When Ralph Nader declared he was going to run for the American Presidency again last weekend he said it was because he wanted:

to join all Americans who wish to declare their independence from corporate rule and expanding domination (source: VodeNader)

So why is his campaign site so Mac-unfriendly? In Safari it only loads the menu running across the top of the page. In Explorer the whole thing loads, but the whole layout is so out of whack you have to scroll down the page to read any of it.

Are these really the doings of a man who wants to fight ‘expanding domination’?

Of course, his decision to run has not been received with universal delight. His first attempt at the Presidency, in 1996, saw him win just 700,000 votes - less than 1% of the American population. The second attempt, in 2000, was barely any better.

Nearly three million Americans - more than 2% of the vote - backed this anti-establishment consumer champion when he stood as the Green Party candidate in the last presidential election. (Source: BBC News)

That 2%, though, was seen by many as being just enough to keep Al Gore out of office, as many of the people who voted for him could have been expected to have voted Democrat otherwise. As had been reported,

The possibility of Nader allowing a Bush victory in 2004 by drawing votes from the left side of the political spectrum is troubling some Democrats. (Source: CNN)

You can’t fault his motivation, though. ‘After careful thought and my desire to retire our supremely selected president,’ he said on NBC. ‘I’ve decided to run as an independent candidate for president.’ Of course, that could just be posturing if the real reason was actually personal gain.

It can’t be the personal slant that is driving him, though. After the perceived damage he did to the Democratic campaign last time around the consumer rights organisations that he fronts saw donations and support fall off dramatically, and the same could reasonably be expected to happen again this time around.

Howard Dean, who withdrew himself from the race to win the Democratic nomination for this year’s election, sums up what a lot of Democrats must be thinking right about now:

Ralph Nader has made many great contributions to America over 40 years. But if George W. Bush is re-elected, the health, safety, consumer, environmental, and open government provisions Ralph Nader has fought for will be undermined… It will be government by, of, and for, the corporations - exactly what Ralph Nader has struggled against… , a vote for Ralph Nader is, plain and simple, a vote to re-elect George W. Bush. (Source: Howard Dean Weblog)

Rather than simply criticise him, though, perhaps the Democrats ought to look at how they can appeal to those who would otherwise vote for Nader and in effect make his campaign irrelevant. Indeed, Nader hints at this himself:

I

---

Related posts:

1. Caucus
   So Keith went to the Democratic Caucus in London last night to have a say in who should go up against Bush in this year's...
   
   
2. Local elections
   Yesterday's local election result was a bit of a none-event, really. I voted for the only party to put anything through my door to tell...
   
   
3. Election
   I am actually quite speechless after reading this story on the BBC News site about the BNP's election manifesto, which includes: Mr Griffin also wants...