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Ralph nader is right. America's founding fathers never envisioned a two-party system. The constitution completely ignores the subject. The "Mr. Smiths" were to be citizen-legislators who went to Washington to represent their constituents for a specific reason (it's obviously more complicated than that now but the intent remains) then come home and give it to the next person. I don't know a single person who embraces all the planks of either party. If we had six or eight candidates on the ballot and a run-off election for the two highest vote recipients, every American would have a real choice. The current permanence of the two parties creates a "hold-your-nose-and-vote-for-the-lesser-of-two-evils' among the average American.
Consider Pat Buchanan: Pro-life, Period! Pro-union, period! But both of those constituencies were afraid to "waste" their vote. Perfect candidate for the preceeding two groups, no votes for the candidate from either constituency.
If you question my ability to make this point consider this: I'm an active evangelical, a union official, a fiscal conservative and a social gadfly. I've been run out of several churches, not for moral failures but rather for my position that a vote for a republican is a wasted vote because they NEVER do anything about abortion. It's their cyclical get-reelected issue and they'll never let it be solved.
This is a classic "spilt the spoils" two-party dictatorship. Far from a democratic republic.
Jeff, Grafton
The voters have spoken numberous times about this guy. While I support his right to exercise his constitutional rights, his position that the two parties are esentially the same is absurd. He is simply cluttering the process and as we have seen in past elections, interferring with the will of voters who can actually tell the difference between the two parties and make a clear choice.
There is no way as he asserts that he would be competative in this race. If people were interested in his campaign, he'd be competative right now!
This guy is just annoying.
wsb, Bethesda, MD
I'm curious what R. Nader thinks about about Instant Runoff (multiple choice) ballots.
Tate, LakewoodBill Cohen of the Ohio Public Radio Statehouse news bureau
Mike Roberts, freelance journalist
Brad Dicken, reporter, Elyria Chronicle Telegram