Ralph Version 3.0 Nader's third try not very charming. BY DAN CAROL Ralp Nader is in and running. The only good thing I can see about this is that it makes my life easy today— I was a little short of good ideas for the column this time. So I appreciate an easy 750 words. The bottom line is that this whole affair is straight up Groundhog's Day. As in, we've seen this movie before. As in, I can summarize how I feel in five letters: zzzzz. Unfortunately, not everyone is feeling so serene — many Democrats are angry (again). For how to handle this strategically (not emotionally), I'd offer some excellent advice from Paul McCartney and the Beatles: Let it be. Find your "inner Zen" and take a deep breath before you speak, act or primal scream. Otherwise, our progressive political dialogue will look just like the recent (and unpleasant) Sybil-Blair exchange in EW's letters to the editor section. (Two good people who I'd wager support the same big goals and dreams — but have a lot of un-vented anger about which tactical strategies are best applied to win). So please folks, let's stop eating our own. Let's stop trying to win past tactical arguments (about who was really right in elections We all lost) that get in the way of what's smart now. And that's the goal, right? We want to win back power from monied interests who are selling out our democracy. We need to do this intelligently. We all know it won't happen with just a new president, anyhow. But we sure need to start with one of those. Some Democrats will want to re-direct their current anger against George Bush and their leftover Nader 2000 anger toward Ralph Version 3.0. To which I say: Don't bother. Please! Because trying to shame Nader will only strengthen him. If you are angry at Ralph, the best way to "hurt" him is simply to ignore him. Enough about group therapy and collective anger management — let's take a hard look at this candidacy. How does it measure up first tactically and secondly, in terms of ideas? To be as fair as I could, I watched Nader on "Meet The Press" to understand what his motivation really is this time. I get that he thinks the system is broken and the corporate power dominates Washington. (I think we all get that point). What I don't get is the strategic thinking that drives him to label The Nation magazine and other progressive critics of this third Nader candidacy to be "contemptuous" (his words). The fact is that Nader failed to get the critical 5 percent of the vote last time to qualify for major party status and federal funding (as Ross Perot did for the Reform Party in 1992) and that was the campaign's stated goal. Ralph and all Nader supporters, please don't tell me you can get more votes this time. All odds are that this independent and late-starting effort will get fewer votes and qualify on fewer state ballots. So what's the tactical goal that this candidacy achieves for breaking the third party duopoly? Even the Green Party is torn up about this. Some Greens wanted him to run again as a Green; some wanted no part of another Nader candidacy after he failed to achieve the magic 5 percent. I'm down with the Greens and anyone else who say that we should build new grassroots parties ground up, not top-down, by winning school board races, state legislative seats, populist electoral reforms and building from where the party is strong (the Greens almost won the mayor of San Francisco a few weeks ago and that performance has perhaps inspired the current mayor to be more courageous). That's tactics. As for big ideas, which Nader claims is the other reason he is running, I am unmoved. Ralph promised to run an ideas campaign in 2000; instead he spent months goring Gore. The fact is that there are plenty of ways to get progressive ideas in play without splitting our vote. Dennis Kucinich's positive campaign ("Fear Ends, Hope Begins") and Howard Dean's recent efforts in the Democratic primary are undeniable examples of how powerful stances can move the debate in progressive directions. Top-selling books by Michael Moore, Al Franken and others are opening up important channels for changing minds. Some have even encouraged Ralph to "run" for president on the upcoming Showtime reality show American Candidate (www.americancandidate.com) where 12 contestants will duke it out this fall in a blend of presidential politics and "The Hollywood Squares." (Who's to say now that Paul Lynde is gone, the center square slot isn't the best platform for change out there?) So that's my take on this mess. I am for sweeping it under the emotional rug. (As of this writing, even Dennis Kucinich seems to be taking this advice — there's not a word about it on his website). If that still makes ya mad, how about ya take it out on Dub-ya. Dan Carol is a Democratic political strategist and a founding partner of CTSG (www.ctsg.com),a progressive consulting firm based in Eugene and Washington, D.C.
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