http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/opinion/26tue4.html?ex=1361768400&en=2c9530939976660f&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink
Regarding Randolph's essay, I think she is missing the point. In elections, stuff happens. Sure, Nader may be a spoiler, and, yes, his message is tired and rather one note, but he is an inevitable part of the political process, just as much as the albatross of Rev. Wright around Obama's neck; Hillary, the ghost of Monica Lewinsky, and cigars of terms past; or John McCain's "I hate you . . . no wait, come back, I really do love you" relationship with the Christian conservatives.
Regarding Randolph's essay, I think she is missing the point. In elections, stuff happens. Sure, Nader may be a spoiler, and, yes, his message is tired and rather one note, but he is an inevitable part of the political process, just as much as the albatross of Rev. Wright around Obama's neck; Hillary, the ghost of Monica Lewinsky, and cigars of terms past; or John McCain's "I hate you . . . no wait, come back, I really do love you" relationship with the Christian conservatives.
If you dig enough dirt and hire enough "consultants" to trump up scandals against your opponent, you can change an election. Maybe a candidate will do themselves in by sleeping with prostitutes, or calling someone a "macaca," or playing footsy underneath a bathroom stall in a Minneapolis airport. Maybe a man who was once an admirable advocate for the average American consumer, but has since become an irritation on par with a mosquito bite, will run again and again and again. In politics, there are no givens. Why else have the pundits been scratching their heads since the primaries began?
In this election, there will be bumps and bruised egos along the way. Illegitimate love children, backroom alpaca purchases, and secret trades of Immodium stock may surface before it's all said and done. Paris Hilton may decide to run. The Christian conservatives may decide they really don't like McCain after all and secede from the Union. It's America. A nation that used to be run by native peoples, and the English, and the French, and the Spanish. A nation that moved westward and stopped a winter to eat other other along the way. A nation that was almost rended in two by slavery. A nation that survived the Cold War and the Aniston-Pitt divorce. We can deal with a third-party candidate shaking things up . . . again. We can deal with change. We thrive on it.
Bring it on, Ralph Nader!
