I am not a registered Democrat. I can't be. Neither can Bernie

[Jim Lane]

116. Can you back up your repeated claim about Nader going against what he'd said?

Nader ran in a couple Democratic primaries in 1992 but it wasn't a serious candidacy. It was in 1996 that he began running in the general election. I've read a fair amount about Nader, and participated in multiple flame wars here on the subject, but I never heard anything about him saying he wouldn't run in the general and then doing so.

He may have said something along the lines of "he wouldn't run as a spoiler," but only in contending that there was nothing to spoil -- that the duopoloy of the two major parties wasn't based on fundamental differences. That was a ridiculous position. After the debacle of 2000, it was seen to be ridiculous by most of his supporters, who abandoned him in 2004 (too late, alas). Still, I don't remember his ever saying "Oh, I'd never run as an independent or Green or the like in the November election, accomplishing nothing except taking votes from the Democrat" -- and then doing it. That is in fact what he did but I don't think he gave any assurance of not running and then reneged on it.

As to the subject of this thread, I agree with all those who've noted that Bernie Sanders is extremely unlikely to run in the general election if he doesn't get the Democratic nomination. He may or may not endorse the Democratic nominee but he won't be a spoiler.