Do you agree with/ what do you think about the political ideology of Ralph Nader?

I don’t know enough of his policies to really answer your question, but I do know that he continues to run with no chance of winning, taking votes from viable candidates. I do not consider that to be good policy.

Most everyone except those running under the big 2 political parties runs to give a platform to their ideas/policies. I think it’s inherently flawed to only consider 2 candidates simply because they have the money/media support behind them and to consider any third party candidate a “spoiler” every election. What exactly is he spoilng? The 2 absurd 2 party system? That would be a good thing.

The role of a third party candidate is to bring issues to the table and force the other 2 to address them (which they don’t want to do because they might lose supporters when people realize what their actual policies are).

I do see your point, and agree that the two party system is in need of a major overhaul. It is just frustating when the “lesser of two evils” doesn’t win, because of a third party candidate. Often, the third party candidate is more aligned with the major party candidate I’d like to see win, thereby siphoning off votes from “my” party. I think it’s great to get some of these ideas out into the world, but think they should drop out well in advance of the actual election.

Okay well we’ve reached somewhat of a consensus. Maybe running for president isn’t the best thing for him to do. With that said, I love many of his/other third party candidates’ ideas.

One of my political science professors once said that the best way to get your party out there is from the bottom up; state legislature, mayors, etc. Nader does inherently take votes away from the more liberal candidate but people should be allowed to vote for who they believe in.

I think if people like Nader were allowed to debate, their votes would certainly go up.

Well, Ross Perot was allowed to debate, and he got some more votes because of it (including mine – I was young and naive, and did not yet realize that he is insane) but still had no chance of actual victory. I’d like to see a much wider and deeper pool of people running, with a level playing field.

Amen to that

I think Nader’s role as a spoiler is less true now than it was in 2000. Perot has been the biggest spoiler in recent years, and he ensured Bush I didn’t get a second term.

This year, I think Republicans will see some bleed off from Ron Paul write-ins and to a lesser extent Bob Barr. I’m not sure that Nader will garner as much support this time as he did with Bush/Gore.

Nader’s primary function or agenda is to inject dialogue about corporatism and militarism into the national debate. Neither the Rs or the Ds want to discuss that in a meaningful way because they both benefit. (One might argue that we all support corporatism and militarism through the front companies of the Democratic and Republican parties.) Over the long haul, it’s going to take a coalescing of the Constitutionalists, Greens, Libertarians, etc to get some kind of critical mass for a third party, assuming outright fascism doesn’t get there first.

I was Green for 8 years, and voted for Nader twice. The Green party is most inline with my personal and political views, as is/was Nader. But, the more mature me sees the futility of trying to support a third-party candidate. I think our system sucks. Truly, I would prefer a parliamentary style government, but we’d have to throw out the constitution for that to occur. Hmmm. Maybe not such a bad idea.

At one time, I believe Ralph Nader was a real crusader with valid ideas. I believe he has become addicted to fame. I have difficulty taking him seriously any more.

I don’t think he or any political figure is trying to be or is in office for any reason except to destroy values created by others. Check out this new political party that is strewed with controversy but dangit, they speak the honest truth and really open your eyes. Here is the link http://www.neo-techsociety.com/myaccount/library/TheConstitutionoftheV6.htm
Check it out, and be forewarned, this is for real and not for those whom are close minded. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. ⌣

Ralph Nader is awesome! I find it awful that the public is force fed a 2 party system by big corporations. independent parties are on the rise.