Re: Paul Felton: Open Letter to Progressive Democrats

[Yoshie Furuhashi <furuhashi.1@xxxxxxx>]

At 2:31 PM -0800 4/3/04, Devine, James posted
<http://www.progressive.org/april04/mailcomm0404.html>:
> He was running, he said then, to help construct a durable third
> party, the Greens. But he kissed the Greens goodbye in a December 22
> letter that was remarkable for its scolding tone. Nader criticized
> "the maturity of the Greens as a political party" because it wasn't
> sure of the wisdom of running any Presidential candidate in the face
> of the Bush onslaught. He blamed the Greens for having "an uncertain
> compass regarding what should be a bedrock, genetic determination to
> run Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates all out--which is
> what, after all, national political parties--as opposed to
> movements--do."

The Green Party deserved Ralph Nader's criticism concerning the date
of its national convention: June 23-28, 2004.  It is impossible to
run a serious presidential campaign starting on June 29.  As a matter
of fact, many in the Green Party have the same criticism as Nader's,
and those who do welcome the Nader candidacy and will vote to
nominate him as its candidate at the convention.  By declaring his
candidacy early this year, Nader did a big favor to the left wing of
the Green Party, at a great personal cost to himself.

At 2:31 PM -0800 4/3/04, Devine, James posted:
> Finally, Nader said he was running, back then, because the
> differences between the two parties were negligible on most issues.
> After three years of one of the most reactionary governments in the
> history of the country, this claim is harder to sustain today. Bush
> has been disastrous on the environment, on gay rights, on abortion
> rights, on labor issues (oops, there goes overtime!), and on tax
> policy. Perhaps some, if not all, of this was predictable at the
> time. By contrast, Bush's messianic militarism, his imperial
> unilateralism, and his assault not only on the Bill of Rights but
> also on the Magna Carta were more difficult to anticipate.

Kerry will not reverse any of Bush's domestic and foreign policies.

At 2:31 PM -0800 4/3/04, Devine, James posted:
> "I don't have the confidence that the Democrats know how to beat
> him," he [Nader] said.

Neither do I.  John Kerry -- "electable"?  Kerry will probably prove
to be a turnout depressor.
--
Yoshie

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