General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Yes, Nader cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000. [View all]merrily
(45,251 posts)When it comes to the administration of someone who never got to the Oval Office, anyone can imagine anything. For all we know, Imaginary President Gore would have destroyed the world. Or funded the cure for cancer. We don't know.
People who actually have held the office say that you cannot imagine it until you live it. You cannot predict what you will do until you are faced with the circumstances. If they are unable to predict what they themselves would do, how are we able to predict what Gore would have done?
I refuse to speculate on whether Gore's imaginary Presidency would have been better or worse than Bush's, or for that matter, Obama's.
In any event, I think Nader had every legal and moral right to run. I think we could use a lot more competition for the office, not less.