Sit this one out, Ralph

by Larry Atkins

OpEdNews.com

Last week, Ralph Nader stated that he is leaning toward running for President in 2004 and that he will announce his decision in January. On behalf of most people on the liberal and moderate left, I beg you Mr. Nader--don't do it.

During the next few weeks, Nader should come back to reality and do what's best for the left and for the rest of the country. He should take the bold step of announcing that he will not run for President on the Green Party ticket or as an independent, and that members of the Green Party should support the Democratic nominee for President, no matter who it turns out to be.

In the last Presidential election, Nader claimed that there wasn't any real difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. The last two
and a half years clearly have proved Nader wrong. Even a Bush Lite Democratic candidate like Joseph Lieberman would be a huge improvement over President Bush.

While President Bush has stated that he opposes cloning of humans, you can bet that he will appoint three or four judicial clones of Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia. Once that happens, Americans can forget about their civil rights and rights of privacy.

It has become apparent that President Bush overhyped darn bad intelligence to start a costly preemptive war, even though there were no conclusive Iraqi ties to Al-Queda, September 11 th, or the Anthrax attacks and Saddam Hussein had been effectively contained for 12 years and was not a direct and imminent threat to the United States. The recent capture of Saddam will have no effect on Al-Queda or the real war on terror. As last week’s fiasco involving the decision to restrict prime rebuilding contracts in Iraq to countries that supported the war shows, Bush has alienated our allies around the world during his Presidency.

The Bush administration has run roughshod over the environment, which is one of Nader's favorite causes. From global warming to drilling in Alaska,
Bush and the EPA have fostered harmful environmental policies. For example, during the summer, the Agriculture Department announced plans to allow logging in 58.5 million acres of roadless national forests that previously had been off-limits.

Under Bush, unemployment has skyrocketed and more people are underemployed, yet the Republicans, led by Bush, steamrolled a huge tax cut that benefited the wealthiest Americans.

In 2000, Nader received approximately 2.9 million votes, including 97,488 in Florida and 22,188 in New Hampshire, which help tilt those states from Gore to Bush. Nader also took away many of the younger voters who would have voted Democratic.

What's the best that Nader could do in 2004? It would take a miracle for him to win one or two states during the election. Even if he improves his vote count from the last election, all he'll be doing is siphoning off more votes for the Democratic Presidential candidate. The only way that Bush can be defeated is if the left can pull off a united front.

Please, Ralphie Boy, take one for the team and take yourself out of the Presidential race. It's the only way we can send The Cowboy back to his Texas ranch. Your cause is just, but you need to stop tilting at windmills and stroking your ego for this upcoming election. Be realistic and ask what you can do for your country. If you think Incurious George has been a disaster as President, just wait; you haven't seen anything yet. Imagine four years of an unchecked King George (the II term) with unfettered power, in control of Congress, and choosing Supreme Court justices.

Bush is likely to continue to twist the truth during the Presidential campaign and waltz to an easy re-election. Don't make it any easier for him, Ralph. Please sit out this dance.

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Larry Atkins larryLTatkins@aol.com  is a lawyer and freelance writer who lives in Philadelphia. He has written over 175 Op-Eds and essays for major publications across the country, including the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, and Philadelphia Inquirer.

This is an updated version of his Op-Ed, which was first published in the Chicago Tribune.