Ralph Nader Picked a Running Mate; Are You Asking Yourself so What?

Matt Gonzalez, a 42-year-old lawyer from San Francisco, has been chosen to carry the lance of political man of La Mancha Ralph Nader this election.

Matt's biggest claim to fame is a second place finish for Mayor of San Fran in 2003. He is a long time member and then president of the San Francisco board of directors which is responsible for the cities considerable budget of just over $6 Billion annually.

According to the New York Times, the two met back in 2000 and found themselves to be mutually anti-war and anti-NAFTA. They worked together again in 2005 to fight against the war in Iraq and have stayed in contact till today. Ralph stated that Matt's character, personality and steadfastness of purpose were the qualities that lead him to choose Matt as his running mate.

There seems no doubt then that in Ralph's judgment Matt is fit to be his Vice-president. Perhaps that's the problem. If one thing still remains in question from the 2000 Election it's Ralph's judgment and that may make the choice of any running mate as irrelevant as his candidacy in this even more crucial election year of 2008.

Now almost 8 years later, Mr. Nader still balks at taking any responsibility for the outcome of the 2000 election and stands by his opinion that his 2 and ½% of the vote would not have went to Gore.

Considering the events that took place shortly after the new President George Bush took office and the ensuing Iraq War which Ralph Nader says he vehemently opposes, one may perhaps question his own self honesty. The voting public will surely be reminded of his part during this campaign and the fact that he will not even be running from what was his own Party, the Green Party, but as an Independent raises other questions. Do even the people who he started out with have any faith in his relevance at this time?

If you think you hear "To Dream the Impossible Dream" in the background when ever Nader speaks don't be worried, it will just be the theme song of the campaign; if they're smart enough to use it.

Ralph Nader started out as a consumer advocate and man of the people. He still adheres to that image in spite of the devastating effect his candidacy in 2000 had on what turned out to be a very close election. He will most likely be asked if he's not in it again as just a spoiler and not a real candidate at all.

Under any kind of objective scrutiny his candidacy is at best likely to be viewed as a romantic attempt at self government and at its worst as another political blunder with potentially harmful consequences for our nation.