April 06, 2004
Crashing the Party
I’ve been reading Ralph Nader’s book “Crashing the Party”. To anyone who questions why he “spoiled” the 2000 race, this is straight from the horses mouth. Nader is as always an impassioned and well spoken advocate of what he believes is the right thing to do. What I find most interesting is that he has few words of rancor for people who have treated him fairly shoddily at best over the past 30 years. He is equally critical of both major parties, and makes clear further why he was not interested in running as a Democrat or a Republican.
The book is largely a summarized campaign diary, and what I find most interesting is that is shows quite clearly the encounters and experiences he had that led him to believe that he takes as many voters away from a Republican candidate as from a Democrat, a belief he holds to this day. There is an undercurrent of political naivete, but if you want to understand the steps needed to really launch an independent campaign you could not do better than this.
What this country needs is more people with the energy and commitment of Nader to run. Not just liberals, but moderates and conservatives as well. That is what is needed to break the stranglehold that the Dems and Reps have on political power.
Posted by rev_matt_y at April 6, 2004 11:35 AMBut to get the kind of financial backing necessary to make a powerful run in the media, one must either enormously rich, or capable of brokering a deal with the power brokers whom are currently affiliated with the other two major parties. What independently minded Dem’s, Conserv’s, and third party candidates need is a George Soros backer. The party will fall in line if one can put oneself into the front-runner position as Jesse Ventura did.
Sen. John McCain won’t run, because he can’t get the backing to become a front-runner in order to force the GOP behind him. The same may be true of Hillary Clinton in 2008.
At least that is my take. Good topic though, and we need to find a way for Nader likes to win.
Posted by: David R Remer at April 6, 2004 07:54 PMDonald Trump has said he would back Jesse Ventura’s run for president with full financial backing… just an idea.
Posted by: Misha Tseytlin at April 6, 2004 09:25 PMReal campaign finance reform would be a good start for encouraging independents.
Democrats are talking about a plan for Congress that would get them completely out of the money business:
- No member of Congress can take or solicit anything of value from any person. Period.
- Any nonmemeber of Congress who wants to get elected can raise as much as they want from whomever they please. Provided that they immediately disclose the contribution.
- The moment that money is deposited in the challenger’s account, the incumbent is credited with 85% of the amount (full amount - 15% for fundraising overhead) from a publically guaranteed fund.
It seems like a good way to keep our elected representatives focused on doing their jobs, rather than running around their home states raising money.
Lee:
Interesting idea, and along the lines of one I have thought about. I presume this would get rid of matching federal funds for other non-incumbents, and force those who want to be in politics to raise their money privately. This could have the unintended consequence of allowing only “rich” people, or very well connected people, to run for office, but then again, isnt that where we are now>?
I would be in favor of true campaign finance reform, but what we have now is simply a bag of tricks. To see campaign finance legislation approved, and then to see the most expensive campaign in history, is to see how inadequate the current legislation is.
Posted by: joebagodonuts at April 7, 2004 08:15 AMLee, does that include soft money, like Soros’ $5 million to MoveOn.org? Can you imagine what a Republican version of Soros would be able to do, with, say, oil money?
Ciggy, that’s funny. Richard Mellon-Scaife alone has spent tens of millions to defeat Democrats over the past decade. Rupert Murdoch adds a few tens of millions more. Two people alone account for more than 10x what Soros may or may not give to MoveOn (it’s matching dollars, so if they don’t raise enough independently, they won’t get the full amount).
Posted by: rev_matt_y at April 7, 2004 01:51 PMforget the need for money
what if all of the progressive anti war folk
vote for nader this time,
what if we had the simple sense of
voting for the best
vote nader please
Posted by: a.barrett at July 20, 2004 02:43 AM
