General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Yes, Nader cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000. [View all]cascadiance
(19,537 posts)We cannot just look at mistakes a person made, and I'm not sure I'd classify Nader running necessarily as a mistake but a factor in a bad outcome we had then.
Without Nader, a lot more people would be dead today with unsafe products that he helped drive more regulation for consumer safety over the years. Let's not forget that.
We could choose to forget all that FDR did for us if we just focused on how Asian Americans got unfairly detained during his administration. I don't forget that bad problem, but on balance, I still feel FDR being president was one of the best things for our country at the time.
We could choose to forget that the Civil Rights Act got passed and that Medicare got put in place amongst other things and only look at the Gulf of Tonkin decision by LBJ to throw him in the trash too. Again, a balanced view is needed to look back at history.
Just ganging up on Nader in an effort to help those who are out to do personal character assassination on him doesn't help us solve the problems that happened then. Blaming Nader does nothing to address what happened then. Passing IRV does! I have always felt that progressives are more constructive and not reactive in problem solving. Let's keep to that tradition.