And so the debate --and the blame game continues.... I question Tony's assumption about the nation being spared grief if Gore had won --some 'grief' perhaps; other longer-term erosion grief, definitely not. And I reject the powerlessness implicit in what Tony's says about 'moving away from the center causing Gore to lose votes.' Where does that logic lead, Tony? As for myself, with full expectation that Florida's certification stands up & Bush is president, I reassert that I have NO regrets whatsoever in voting for Nader, nor would I have had I lived in Florida. If the Democratic Party doesn't start thinking about some constituencies besides corporate ones --except in the rhetoric-filled flourish leading up to elections-- they're going to get shut out of the White House. Time for them to think long & hard about that. As long as their is a respectable alternative to their left and they remain centrist-committed, I (a life-long Democrat) won't vote for a Democrat again. There are Sixties-echoes here, but with the possibility of a different long-term outcome.... If a Left alternative can grow during these years --people committed to this course of action-- eventually even the mainstream media will have to start taking what we argue a little more seriously. And if that happens, our message can begin to filter through (the media's otherwise impenetrable filters) to many more Americans who can see no alternatives to the center and Right (including those who regularly don't vote because in their view the 'fix is in' & neither party addresses their concerns)... That's a difficult path, to be sure, but the alternative is completely unacceptable --unless, of course, you're ok with the continuing erosion of the global ecosphere, the spread of mall-sprawl, the widening gap between rich & poor, etc.... Example of the media's obscene myopia was David Broder's column on "split" America --meaning evenly split between Bush & Gore folks, as if the bigger and deeper split between marginalized millions and system 'insiders' was invisible to this Beltway pundit & his cohorts (so many of whom rallied to Gore & bashed Nader throughout the campaign --cf. Anna Quindlen). Ted Morgan Tony Edmonds wrote: > -----Michael Rossman wrote: > > >So did > >their stupidity in otherwise muting and center-izing his campaign. > > > But is it not probable that moving away from the center would have cost Gore > more votes than it would have gained him. Holding contsant all other > possible factors, it is indisputable that had Nader not run, Gore would have > won an unambiguous victory in Florida and the nation would have been spared > a good deal of grief, especially if Bush does eke out a victory. > > > Tony Edmonds > Ball State Universirty
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