Gay Today: People

Spoiler Ralph Nader

By BuckcuB

Every so often in politics, along comes a fringe candidate with no actual chance of being elected to the post he or she seeks. Usually representing peripheral issues important only to a fanatic few, these candidates succeed in only one thing--being "spoilers." Taking away just enough of the vote to destroy the chances of the viable aspirant whose views and stance would best serve the spoiler's constituency.

Well, boys and girls, BuckcuB is unhappy to report that the tradition of the spoiler is alive and well in American politics. And his name is Ralph Nader.

For gay folks, a Bush presidency would be at the least a disappointment and at the worst a disaster. You don't have to like Al Gore to appreciate that he would be a more gay-friendly President by light-years of magnitude than would George "Because My Daddy Said So" W. Bush. Or to appreciate that viable candidate Gore has a real commitment to many of the same issues which hopeless candidate Nader champions.

So why is Ralph Nader mounting his impossible Green Party challenge, when it can only hurt the candidacy of the one man with any real chance of advancing liberal-moderate issues as President?

Let's start with the man himself. You'd think the author of Unsafe At Any Speed, the champion of the downtrodden, the white knight of the environment would be a sensible dude, wouldn't you? Well, Nader ain't a sensible dude. He is the incarnation of Don Quixote, tilting at windmills as if he could vanquish them, when all that will really happen is he's gonna get knocked on his ass.

Most annoying of all to BuckcuB, however, is that Nader is going to (if you'll excuse the expression) queer the November election, and thereby consign tens of millions of gays and lesbians to the bloodthirsty mercies of George W. Like all spoilers, Nader's talk is full of high-sounding concepts and impassioned convictions. Except when you boil it all down, a Nader speech comes out to "Me me me, me, me me me me, me me, ME!"

Previous People Features from the GayToday Archive:
Ralph Nader for President?

U.S. Vice President Addresses Gay America

George W. Bush: The Oligarchy's Puppet

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Now, why would a guy knowingly screw up the chances of the REAL presidential candidate who best represents what he wants from government? "I wouldn't be doing this if I worried about losing votes for Gore or Bush," Ralph told reporters recently. Jeez--talk about unsafe at any speed! Nader knows perfectly well that he cannot win the presidency. He also knows perfectly well that the left-of-center Green Party vote will hurt Al Gore, not George W. So, what's it all about, Ralphie? For those who failed to take note, that question is its own answer.

Ralph Nader may be an icon to some, a beacon of independence and iconoclasm. Well, Bucky's here to tell you that beacon can do nothing but light the way for George W. to the Oval Office at Al Gore's expense. And it is high time that gays and lesbians demand Ralph Nader desist from his spoiler candidacy. "Now wait a sec, BuckcuB," I hear you say, dear reader, "I really respect Ralph. For once, I'd like to vote for someone I honestly believe in." Well, go ahead. Take a piss in the ocean while you're at it, and see if that makes a difference either.

You can bitch and moan all you want about Buddhist temple fundraisers and campaign calls from government telephones, and Tipper's no-naughty-words campaign, and Gore support for NAFTA, and even Nader's characterization of Gore as a "techno twit." Gay folks don't yet have the luxury of splitting such rarefied hairs. We need a guy who's in our corner. A guy who can actually be elected. A guy who has demonstrated that he will stand up and fight for us even though he doesn't share our sexuality, as opposed to a loud-mouthed dreamer who keeps his own unknown sexuality under tight wraps. You'd think a man who wasn't afraid to spit in General Motors' eye would have the guts to come out, if he's gay, and to say he's not if he's not. But Nader's prudery--notably his remarks about the Lewinski/Clinton affair--is part and parcel of the man himself, and we don't need it--or him.

Forty five states will list Ralph Nader on the ballot this November. At the moment, the latest polls show Gore and Bush within three percentage points of one another. You do the math, friend. If a mere four percent of potential Gore voters pull the lever for Nader, instead, we end up with the Tyrant of Texas as the next president of the United States. And then -- increased Ryan White funding; Federal recognition of domestic partnership; the Hate Crimes Act; gays serving openly in the military--well, you can kiss those hopes goodbye. Good ol' boy George W. isn't THAT compassionate a conservative. It'll all go back to looking over your shoulder fearfully as we did during the Reagan reign.

Worse, the next president will likely appoint at least two, and possibly four, justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. That's a far-reaching legacy. Some justices have served twenty, thirty years, shaping the legal landscape of our country long after the man who appointed them left office. Do we want four Bush justices? Anti-abortion, anti-privacy, free-rein-to-law-enforcement, rigidly conservative justices? Well, that's exactly what Nader's spoiler campaign promises to hand us. And it's time we demanded a stop to it.

Fact: Ralph Nader cannot now, or ever, be elected President of the United States of America. Fact: Nader's candidacy can do nothing except inflict damage on the candidacy of the one man gay folks can trust to defend our rights. Fact: It is our right and our responsibility to shut down the Nader candidacy by forcing the man himself to withdraw from the race, before he causes further harm to the Gore campaign.

BuckcuB strongly suggests that you get in touch with Mr. Nader. Email, snail mail, plane, train, or automobile. And tell the self-appointed savior to crawl back under a rock, and stop endangering the candidacy of the one man in this election whom gay folks can trust!