Posted on: Saturday, July 17, 2004

EDITORIAL
Nader hurts own cause with campaign

Presidential candidate Ralph Nader, who is campaigning in Hawai'i this weekend, says he's keen to force President Bush out of the White House.

Nader, who is not yet on the ballot in Hawai'i, says he's running as an independent because both major parties have been taken over by the corporations.

But getting rid of Bush, says Nader, is priority No. 1.

Which raises the question: Doesn't Nader's third-party candidacy make it more likely, rather than less, that Bush will prevail this fall?

In the 2000 race, Nader won less than 3 percent of the vote nationally. But many Democrats are convinced he tipped the election toward Bush because the president's margin of victory in two states — Florida and New Hampshire — was smaller than the number of people who voted for Nader.

Had Gore carried either of those states, he would have carried the Electoral College and won the presidency.

No one knows for sure, of course, what those Nader voters might have done had he not been in the race. Nader himself insists that Gore beat himself, and that many Nader voters would have stayed home or even voted for Bush if he had not been on the ballot.

But there's little doubt how Republican strategists think those voters would have behaved, as they're pitching in to get Nader on the ballot in pivotal states.

Citizens for a Sound Economy, a right-wing organization co-chaired by former Republican Majority Leader Dick Armey, is backing Nader with contributions from corporations, including Allied Signal, Archer Daniels Midland, DaimlerChrysler, Emerson Electric Co., Enron, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Philip Morris and U.S. West.

Thus, argues John Stauber of the Center for Media and Democracy, "Nader, the sworn enemy of corporate power and influence, has become its not-so-secret weapon for the November election."

Ralph Nader has had a number of causes in his distinguished career — as a champion of the consumer and those who do not have a voice.

If his cause in 2004 happens to be making sure that Bush is not returned to the White House, he must swallow his pride and pull out of the race.