"Don't get fooled again."
The Who


The world woke up Sunday morning to the sound of Ralph Nader's creaking coffin slowly rasping open - once again. On Meet the Press, Ralph did what he has done in the past - announce his candidacy for president at the 11th hour.

No one will argue that he doesn't have the right to run. His distinguished history as a consumer advocate has done much to hold corporate America's feet to the fires to remove dangerous, and often deadly, products off the streets and shelves of American showrooms and department stores. For his work in those areas, he will be remembered as a man of conscience. Someone who stood up when most of America wasn't even aware they needed someone like him in their corner.

Now, he wants to run for president - again.

In 2000, I was living in California and a member of the Green Party. When we backed Ralph for president, we all knew he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of becoming president and would probably even cause harm to Al Gore'schance of winning against the then hapless, now an unindicted criminal, George W. Bush. I personally believed Ralph would throw his support behind Gore in the final days of the campaign after having made his point that there was little difference between the two parties, a symbolic and well meaning gesture. Had he followed that path, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation. When that proved not to be the case, I balked in the ballot box and voted for Gore over my own party. Since then, I've left the Greens - a party of great ideas with an unexplainable penchant for shooting themselves in the foot that has yet to meet their true potential. I have since fallen back into the Democratic juggernaut for better or worse.

For all of his brilliance and good intentions, Ralph has once more taken on the mantle of spoiler, which will surely have negative repercussions come November. His actions, where once they shined the light on shoddy craftsmanship and out right corporate malfeasance, are now nothing short of hypocritical and dangerously subversive to all progressives and their hope of winning back the White House later this year.

It is true that Gore won in 2000 despite Ralph's presence. I don't think anyone with a scintilla of common sense would say otherwise. The Republicans lead by a band of neo-conservatives, who neither honor nor support the Constitution, stole the election pure and simple. Had Ralph not been in the race, Gore's margin of victory would have been far greater, possibly giving the neo-conservatives pause before trying to manipulate the courts and election process to give their man the win.

For Ralph to say his candidacy will do anything other than harm Democrats is both disingenuous, or more to the point, self- delusional on his part. This is where I have a problem squaring the consumer advocate's past glory with the subversive radical he's become. For all the hard work he accomplished over his distinguished career in the name of consumer advocacy, one wonders has he too gone over to the dark side in light of the fact his candidacy will certainly aid the GOP in their fight to defeat the Democrats in November. When you consider the harm the Bush administration has heaped on the heads of consumers around the world in the past seven years, isn't it fair to ask the question if Ralph hasn't abandoned his base to promote himself as some demigod savior with no following other than those disgruntled and misinformed diehards who would support him no matter what was at stake.

Mr. Nader, . . . Ralph, please don't run. Stay out of the way and let the Democrats take back the White House. Once that's done, we will support you in your campaign to show all Americans that the two-party system is flawed and in need of a serious overhaul. Until then, you're only making things worse, and an advocate for only yourself and your failed dreams.