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February 23, 2004
Nader (Ind. - Quixote)
Posted by Jon Henke
I'm watching Ralph Nader on C-Span right now, and the similarity to any given Libertarian Party campaign is striking. So, I checked.....
Outsider?
* NADER: Proclaims himself a "perpetual outsider" - and he actually is.
* LIBERTARIAN PARTY: "The Libertarian Party is hoping to capitalize on what political experts are calling the 'Year of the Outsider'"
Two-Party system?
* NADER: "To say someone is a "spoiler" is to relegate all third-party and independent candidates to second class citizenship. American does not belong to two parties"
* LIBERTARIAN PARTY: "Unlike the Green Party, which is almost totally built around the voice of Ralph Nader and the hope that he is elected, Harry Browne's Libertarians have been a slow-growing movement in American politics in recent years and have the greatest opportunity to challenge what Nader calls the two-party plutocracy."
Conscience?
* NADER: "Vote your conscience and wake this country up."
* LIBERTARIAN PARTY: "...it costs you nothing this time to vote your conscience, to vote for smaller government..."
Taking it back?
* NADER: "Why is Ralph Nader running? To take our democracy back..."
* LIBERTARIAN PARTY: "I don't want to be a politician, I just want our country back."
Both Parties spend too much?
* NADER: "Nader, who supports publicly financed campaigns, used his speech to decry what he called the "cash register politics" of both parties."
* LIBERTARIAN PARTY: "Even though politicians of both parties rarely campaign for higher taxes, more government, and increased rules and regulations-that's usually what they deliver."
Ballot Access?
* NADER: "Our first priority is to get on the ballot in all 50 states" -
* LIBERTARIAN PARTY: "LNC announces 2004 ballot access strategy ... Ballot access is now in the hands of individual Libertarians and their state and local parties."
I wonder if the Libertarian Party ever takes a look in the mirror and sees Ralph Nader? Their policies may be quite different, but otherwise? Well, each seems quite comfortable jousting at windmills.
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