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Ego rears its ugly head again in Presidential politics
Ralph Nader. Theodore Roosevelt. Bernie Sanders. Howard Schultz. Oh my!
One of the highlights of my college career was getting to meet Ralph Nader. He came to campus to speak my senior year. Although I was awed by his reputation, his speech left me nonplussed. He was never known as an inspirational speaker, and that was certainly the case that day in Amherst.
Few people have had as big an impact upon progressive policy than Nader. With his book “Unsafe at any Speed,” he basically founded the modern consumer protection movement. The Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs) spring directly from his advocacy.
But how will Ralph Nader be remembered? As the guy who threw the 2000 election to George W. Bush.
Nader was certainly a spoiler. His vote total made the difference in Florida, which resulted in a Bush/Cheney presidency, the Iraq war, and thousands of dead. As Obama once said, elections have consequences.
Similarly, Jill Stein certainly made the difference in 2016. She won far more than the number of votes that would have made the difference in the critical states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Unlike Nader, however, I do not…
