Ralph Nader announced yesterday that he will run again for president, and groans echo around the country by Democrats who believe that he cost us the last two elections. If you haven’t seen An Unreasonable Man, I reiterate my belief that you should watch the film. I won’t speculate as to what those voters who voted for him might have done had Ralph not been running like others do, and Nader’s main point, the drum he pounds consistently, is that Democrats are too disorganized or downright timid to take up the issues and create change.

I agree with him on this - if Democrats were really speaking the language of the people, the election results wouldn’t be so close all of the time. Obama and Clinton supporters are split down the middle with many saying they can’t distinguish between the two; on the issues, yes but on spirit and personality, I support Obama. Both candidates are beholden to a party that lacks strategic vision as well as solid short and long-term goals. If you think the Democratic party is doing a good job, raise your hand. No? That’s Nader’s point!

Honestly Nader would be a great president on domestic policy. He would balance the budget and be the kind of responsible parent this country needs so desperately. I agree that it is disheartening to think that any votes might go astray in this next election, but if the Democrats could get their shit together and present something that Americans could get behind, Nader wouldn’t be an issue. Let’s focus our energy on pushing the party to be better rather than moaning about Nader. He is trying to provoke a different discussion, he’d just not doing it successfully because he doesn’t have enough campaign money to buy the right message.