Nader Raids the Democrats

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 4, 2000 | by Sheila R. Cherry

Although Ralph Nader only received 3 percent of the vote in the presidential election, he succeeded in establishing the Green Party as a future alternative for the left wing.

Young voters often are labeled as politically disconnected, bored or apathetic about the electoral process. Small wonder. But their involvement turned the two-party system, especially the Democratic Party establishment, on its ear Nov. 7. And Democrats began assailing the youth-based grass-roots campaign of the Green Party the following day.

An energized and defiant crowd of hundreds of Green Party supporters cheered their presidential candidate, consumer activist Ralph Nader, at an election-night party in the ballroom of the National Press Club in Washington as they awaited poll results. Peace signs had given way to pink hair and pierced body parts as this latest generation of youthful idealists heralded Nader even as he delivered call-to-arms concession speeches wedged between media interviews. One of his enthusiasts blurted, "Nobody can ever dismiss you again."

Nader garnered only 3 percent of the nationwide vote, roughly 2.66 million votes, failing to win the 5 percent he needed to qualify for federal campaign funding in the 2004 campaign. But, he notes, his $7 million campaign did attract enough votes to establish the Green Party as "the third-largest [political] party in America."

The effort earned Nader one other thing -- the label of "spoiler." Although his success in this was due, at least in part, to his ability to woo individuals who say they would not have voted at all, the Greens are being blamed for undermining Vice President Al Gore's presidential bid.

Patricia, a young government worker, candidly admits to Insight: "I was going to vote my conscience." But as the campaign tightened in the final days, she says, she found herself targeted by intensive lobbying from Democratic family and friends. Phone calls and e-mails warned that "a vote for Nader was as good as a vote for [Texas Gov. George W.] Bush."

Then came an ad campaign, sponsored by the Republican Leadership Council, showing clips of Nader excoriating Gore. "It made me think, even the Republicans acknowledge that a vote for Nader was a vote for Bush." Those ads, she implies, helped convince her to vote for Gore.

A group of former Nader supporters, Nader's Raiders for Gore, advised those unable to move their Nader-supporting friends to reconsider to enlist professional help -- namely, the group's Website. "Consider that recent studies confirm that over 50 percent of the potential Nader voters are soft, i.e. they are likely to change their minds with exposure to the correct arguments," claim the former raiders.

"The site makes the arguments for you" the ex-Raiders claimed. "Contact individuals, organizations, chat rooms, and particularly Members of Congress.... Call your local talk radio and talk about the fact that there is a Website where anyone can read the arguments why Ralph should declare victory and pull out of the 11 swing states as he promised he would do in front of a group of his most fervent admirers on August 5."

Gore supporters even resorted to offers to vote for Nader only in states already "safe" for the vice president. The offer hinged on Greens voting for Gore in tightly contested battleground states. "We are putting our support behind the lesser of two GOOD men," explained Greens for Gore on their Website, "because it is essential for the planet and the nation that one of them WINS this election."

Greens for Gore's swapvote, org and nadertrader, org were two of many online sites that invited Nader supporters in battleground states to swap votes with Gore supporters in safe states. "Welcome to the WinWin Campaign!" declares the home page at winwincampaign.org, which explained how the scheme worked. "Five percent of the popular vote for Ralph Nader; four years in the White House for Al Gore. We can have it all with WinWin! Join the campaign by pledging to use your vote to support both Nader and Gore.... United, we protect the environment, the Supreme Court, and working families from a Bush presidency -- and promote the visibility of Ralph Nader's platform."

But despite the stated mission of helping Gore to win the electoral vote, concern for the popular-vote count (at that time) was not an equally high concern. One vote-swapping advocate was reminded that vote-swapping could increase the likelihood that the candidate who did not win the popular vote could win the electoral vote.

Their response? "In principle you're right -- indeed the whole point of nadertrading is to help Gore win the electoral vote (while still allowing people to vote their consciences), even if Gore loses the popular vote. But the endangered animals in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge don't give a rat's ass about the discrepancy between the electoral and popular votes. If an antiquated, illogical system keeps Shrubya out of the White House, then I'm all for it."

Still, in the end even the unauditable vote swaps were not enough. Too many Greens refused to have anything to do with Gore, deciding instead to vote their consciences. It remains unclear whether Nader's plummet from as much as 10 percent in public-opinion polls was due to Democratic tricks or uncommitted Greens.