Despite the shuddering of the politely-liberal Democratic base, Nader's announcement that he is entering the fray should be taken as GOOD news. To whit:
1. After 2000, no one's actually going to vote for the guy
2. He's older than McCain (& thus frames Obama as even more of a "fresh choice")
3. He still has some valid points on the Israeli/Palestinian issue and the corporatization of America that Obama can't say, thus:
a. He makes Obama seem less liberal, and thus more appealing to middle-of-the-road Independents
b. He puts issues on the table that will need to be dealt with post-election (when they can be spoken about more freely)
-- after all, it was Al Gore, followed by the Democratic members of Congress, who shot themselves in the ass the last time around.
(Editor's Disclaimer-- We voted for him in 2000, but had a logical reason for doing so-- Mississippi was a winner-take-all state, and Dubya had it in a lockbox, so we thought we could help Ralph & the Greens get the 5%. If it's any consolation, we aren't voting for him this time-- we are older, if not wiser)
