Red Tory v.2.0
I have wondered for some time re American politics why a third party has not come along to fill the void wherein a Mack truck could fit. As I see it, the constituency would comprise the "more reasonable" of the Republicans, i.e. minus the lunatic, religious faction, and the "more reasonable" of the Dems, i.e. free enterprisers minus the welfare statists. Sprinkle in a mix of reasonable ecopolitics and, it would seem to me, one would have the stuff of a realistic alternative.
As is, Obama has not put forth one concrete plank. The mouthing of change is redundant when it is the only real constant, no matter who or what is in a position of leadership. It is the type of change that needs to be debated.
Me thinks that an Obama ticket will unfortunately gift-wrap the election for the Republicans. Oh well, the slippery slope towards the crisis evolves some more.
I’m sure my American friends will back me up on this, but their system, for all its talk of openness, transparency and “democracy” can only be described as fantastically Byzantine, unfathomably complex, and obtuse in a way that would make Kafka's head spin. I mean, where to even start? Just look at the outrageous gerrymandering that goes on all over the place and the flagrantly anti-democratic actions that are routinely taken to game the system.
Just the other day, there was a story circulating about the Republicans in Texas “redistricting” (that’s their cute term for gerrymandering, btw) the precincts around Texas A&M so the early-polling locations were more than seven miles away! The bottom line is that the system as it presently stands is completely rigged by what used to be described as “the establishment” and the powerful elites. To make matters worse, not only is there collusion between the two parties that control it, but the media is a willing accomplice and facilitator in the fraud. The Libertarian and Reform parties usually run candidates, but you wouldn’t even know of their existence from just reading the mainstream press or watching the news on TV. Even the Dem/GOP candidates deemed “unelectable” from the outset by the media elite (the “powdered class” as Bob Someby calls them) are promptly marginalized into oblivion.
Regarding Obama, I’m led to believe that he has actual policies, but I haven’t dug into his website to find out exactly what they are. The lofty rhetoric and inspirational platitudes seem to be working at this point and that’s all we’re getting right now, and really… beyond the pundits and a relatively small number of policy wonks and political junkies, who ever digs that much deeper? Cynical perhaps, but that’s the way it is.
Re "...the media is a willing accomplice and facilitator in the fraud," I have my own rural, micro version. I have had to resort to hiring legal counsel to send a demand letter to The New Glasgow News for a printed apology to releasing a couple of Green attack poodles, one in particular with libelous statements. It would seem that "the squeeze" started a few weeks ago.
Here's the context, you connect the dots. Several years ago just about every independent, small town daily in NS was bought out by Transcontinental Media. It is the fourth largest print media group in Canada and, ta da, has home corporate offices in Montreal. There is a politician named Dion whose riding is in Montreal. Said politician has cut a shady, backroom deal with another politician named May to run in Central Nova. Said politician May has a dedicated, weekly column in The New Glasgow News. So, might someone be calling in some favours?
I have tracked down a list of financial contributors to Dion's leadership campaign, individuals only as per new financial contribution legislation. Easy enough to get around with nudge-nudge-wink-wink $1,000 "bonuses" paid out to company officers, staff, etc. Hell, if one has the moral depth of a Joe Volpe one can even bring on board the family baby sitter!
Ah, gotta love that rural NS back room. It is at one and the same time both asset and liability, depending on tactics employed.
Nader is full of it. I saw him in an interview when he was in Toronto. Nader said Gore would have been a great president and he believed Gore really won (indicating the votes were fixed in Florida). He also knows the NDP party here very well and just loves them.
Make up your mind Ralphie.
Transcontinental Media… Man, you couldn’t invent a more imperious sounding name than that if you tried! Unfortunately, these days it seems that the “free press” is anything but, although I suspect it has been ever thus in many respects. It’s unfortunate that alternative means of communication are kind of lacking in your particular region. What about community papers like The Advocate… are they any good at all (other than for dog training, I mean)?
The NG News is the community paper, it has a lock on the printed media, i.e. monopoly. Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough print is still open to me, with relative smaller populations.
There is no immediate return for me on blogosphere hits. The average Mr. and Mrs. rural NS are not online.
My guess is that a couple of brain cells fired a few weeks ago and someone realized, "Holy shit, this guy's a player, he could do some damage!" Press release announcing my platform and date of nomination meeting did not get covered. As long as they figured I was a dumb, cane maker rube, then there was nothing to lose by giving me coverage, honouring democratic principles, etc. (BTW, they weren't the only ones to take me for a dumb rube. =;-D)
For all I know, the squeeze could even be coming from MacKay or Layton's office, assuming respectively: a Libertarian could do some damage re Peter's way and; if May is running in place of a Liberal, ergo a peace and negotiation offering to unite the left via making the riding a gift to the Dippers.
Re "are they any good at all," bake sale journalism is the norm. It is almost criminal how the locals are kept barefoot and pregnant.
Yikes!
Our local community rag here is just a wafer thin excuse for pedaling a ton of fliers every week. What a senseless waste of paper. It goes straight from the mailbox, right into the recycling bin. Utterly pointless.
Hmmm. This is a confounding communications problem you have.
How about taking that Paul Wellstone series of videos that I posted earlier as a cue and perhaps trying something of that nature… Maybe a “Peter and Me” (ala Michael Moore’s “Roger and Me” film) sort of affair where you attempt to track down Peter MacKay in the constituency, confront him at public events, call him out for a debate, etc.. Doubtless this will result in complete failure, but the process, all caught on film, could be edifying and/or hilarious.
By the way, have you touched base with the national TV networks? Maybe they might be interested in a documentary about how hard it is to run as an independent politician in this country. Or maybe not… but again, documenting that process would also be an interesting exercise in its own right.
Well, there goes my last bit of respect for Nader. He is being paid off by the Republicans, is all I can figure....
If the man wants a Republican in the white house for another four years, he should just have the honesty and integrity to say so.
Yes, he got us seatbelts... but what has he done for us lately?
Ha, as if Nader will be allowed to get more than 1% of the vote. Skeptik, are you for real?
Oh, come on Rich, give me a break. In 2004, Nader tallied a massive 463,653 votes in a country of almost 300 million people — in other words, less than half a percent of the total vote. Surely you can’t tell me that’s going to sink the Dems chances of retaking the White House. As I said, if that were in fact were to be the case, then it really is time these clowns folded their tent and stoically marched off into the wilderness to re-think the meaning of life, the universe and everything.
The only result his running can possibly have is taking votes away from the Democrats - he knows this.
The only result his running can have is that he will act as a spoiler for the Republicans - he knows this too.
The question isn't what percentage of the vote he gets, nor is it whether or not he affects the eventual outcome. For me, it is a question of decency and ethics, and by this action he says to me that he has neither.
He can get his "message" out via a website, he can get some talented 14 yr old to whip him up some Youtube vids for an Internet campaign.
There is no justification for Nader's actions - he either wants a Republican to win, or he doesn't care if one wins. In either case, he has used up any reserves of respect I once held for him.
In the end, politics is not just about numbers, sometime integrity has a role to play as well.
Skeptik — Your take on this is kind of surprising, to say the least. Surely you don’t imagine that the Democrats will arrive on a white horse to rescue the American people. If so, please shoot me some of your meds ASAP.
Putting all of the rhetoric and blather aside, haven’t they actually been complicit in facilitating the PNAC agenda for American hegemony? Haven’t they voted in lockstep with the Republicans on “free trade” legislation that’s effectively hollowed out America’s industrial base through the offshoring of manufacturing jobs to low-wage, non-union, unregulated environments in the name of “free trade” and “globalization” (aka “Clintonomics”)? Haven’t they politely deferred and demurred for the most part when it comes to unconstitutional measures that curtail civil liberties? And haven’t they rolled over with barely a whimper whenever the Bush administration unjustifiably appropriated unaccountable executive powers?
Good grief, if half a million votes (only a fraction of which might have been otherwise destined for the Dems) is the price of having Ralph passionately tilting at various drawbacks of “the system” then I say it’s well worth it.
Skeptik math:
The odds of the Democrats winning are 50-50, either they do or they don't. If Nader runs it means the odds of them winning are 50 to 1, except on Tuesdays, offer void in Nevada.
Does that sum it up?
Seriously, if Nader "spoils" the democrats because it's so close while there's a 17% Republican President in charge now, he'll do better than even his wildest dreams.
"He can get his "message" out via a website, he can get some talented 14 yr old to whip him up some Youtube vids for an Internet campaign."
Why isn't CNN knocking on my door? Heck, I could even find two 14 year olds to work for me.
Well, RT, it seems we disagree on this one. Had to happen once or twice in 40+ years... 
You think Nader's message is worth getting out, even if it muddies up the election; I don't.
Like I said, if he wants to tilt at windmills, he can get a YouTube account. Since he won't get elected [anymore than Ron Paul or Ross Perot] his participation serves no good purpose, as far as I can see.
Anyway, the man bores me to tears. We can agree to disagree on that too....
Skeptik Math [if it matters]
If the odds change from 49-51 to 51-49, the 'mericans [and everyone else] get 4 years of MacCain.
That's scary enough math for me, right there.
Never forget that the margin in Florida was NOT half a million votes and that the Repukes have stolen two elections in a row now.
Just sayin'....
My first reaction when he started exploring the possibility was “Oh shit, no. Here we go again… That miserable anklebiter (to be honest, “fucker” was the actual word used) is going to ruin it for the Dems.” but given the way the landscape has changed since then, I’ve recalibrated my position accordingly.
Do you really find his message boring? Personally, I like any opinion that challenges the status quo and aggressively kicks political orthodoxy in the shins. Sure, he’s not saying anything that you or I don’t already know, but it’s a refreshing change in the context of the left/right paradigm and the routine discourse that’s more often just focused on the horse race aspects of the contest stuffed full of emotional tropes that could just as easily be deployed to sell laundry soap.
For the time being we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. I’m fairly confident that Nader’s campaign will fizzle with little to no impact whatsoever, but time will tell, I guess.
Skeptik — Regarding your math on this one, keep in mind that a good proportion of Nader’s vote is going to come from entirely “safe” blue states like CA, MA, and NY. So to recap here, we’re only talking about a “best case” of a half a million or so total… Now slice at least a third off that number to account for independents and disaffected Republicans. That brings us down to 335,000. Then peel off the numbers from the sure-fire blue states and you’re probably left with just a few thousand votes in the critical swing states like Florida and Ohio. If Obama or Clinton can’t achieve a modest advantage of 1-2% on those battlegrounds then, as I said, all considered, it’s time to pack it in.
If the alternative is the Repukes, then personally I'd prefer that the Dems don't pack it in.
All Nader has to do is skew one state's election enough to influence the electoral college vote - the election is going to be close enough without him, and now he CAN, potentially, rob the Dem's of one state, and given history that alone could be enough.
And if the election, somehow all mysterious like, get's thrown back to the Supreme Court, which way do you think they are going to lean now, after Bush's appointments?
If Nader had any feelings for his country at all, he would have made himself available for some interviews on NPR to get his "message" out, not enter a race wherein he can bring us another four years of right-wing idiocy.... but that's just my take on things.
Skeptik — I wasn't being entirely serious about the Dems packing it in. I sympathize with your feelings about his candidacy but taking 2004 as a point of reference as opposed to 2000, I don't think the threat is in any way significant. Remember that back in 2000 people had the luxury of thinking their wasn't much to lose by voting Nader as a protest against both parties. I think everyone realizes the stakes are much higher now.
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