Letters to the Editor
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Mr. Bateman seems to be unfamilar with Nader's record. And with Al Gore's.
both before and since 2000 and 2004. Nader is the guy who we have to thank for seat belts, which have saved almost as many lives as we have taken in Iraq. He is the guy we have to thank for public interest research groups which have sprung up all around the country, and much, much more. For Bateman to suggest that Nader is silent and invisible between elections only reveals that he hasn't been paying much attention.
As for giving Bush the election in 2000, didn't Al Gore do that by refusing to recount every vote in Florida? Or by NOT carrying his home state of Tennessee, which like Florida takes the vote away from everybody convicted of a felony for life? Up to a fifth of black males in Gore's home state (and in Florida) cannot vote, but did you heard a peep from Gore about it, either during his campaign, in 2004, or since? I haven't. But I did heard from Nader on felony disenfranchisement, both in 2000 and since.
I worked for the election department in Cook County (suburban Chicago) in November 2000. Thursday morning after the election we were booking flights and hotel rooms to parachute our own team into Florida to help find those "missing" votes. The Gore campaign told us "never mind". Is that Nader's fault too? Give us a break, Scott.
Finally, the notion that third party candidates are "spoilers" clearly implies that participation in electoral politics is the exclusive (divine? constitutional?) right of Republicans and Democrats, nobody else. Where does it say that in the Constitution, Scott?