To Craig:

I think many progressives are not fans of the two-party system. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to break out of. Any unilateral attempt to do so would only result in crushing defeat by the other party. And the idea that the two parties in power would reach some agreement that would allow other parties more representation seems pretty far-fetched indeed. Because of the rules we have in place, it is futile to work against the two party system, so we must work within it.

As for Nader, I assure you that many progressives agree with his politics, and we all are very happy with the work he has done while not pursuing the White House. If he ran in a Democratic primary, he would certainly get a decent percentage of the votes. (He probably would not get the nomination, simply because America is indeed more conservative in many ways than you guys across the Atlantic--something we are working hard to change.)

The reason we are antagonistic towards him is because he will not work within the two-party system, which as I said before, is an unfortunate necessity. If he had not run, the people who voted for him in 2000 would easily have made Gore's victory over Bush large enough that the Supreme Court would not be able to overturn it. This of course assumes that the ultra-liberals who voted for him would choose Gore over Bush (and who can really dispute that).

His view that Democrat and Republican candidates are equally bad is simply ludicrous. Case in point: Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on global warming; Bush policies have set back environmentalism for decades to come. While we respect the work that he has done, we are utterly confused as to how Nader can possibly believe this to be true. That is the cause of the current national sentiment towards Nader. Hope that clears things up for you.

From Scotland,
From outside the bubble it looks as if your two party system is a con.
If you believe in capitalism, is'nt it a good idea to have a compitition of ideas come every election.
Ralf Naders policies are regarded as mainstream from this side of the atlantic, so to us it is hard to see why Americans feel so antaganistic towards him.

Anyhow, Good Luck over there.

I'm so angry at Nader (and now Gravel) at this point that I could just burst. Maybe Bob Dylan can make him stop using his beautiful and poignant poetry for this ridiculous egomanical endeavor. Say no to Nadir/Grovel!