Listening to Mr. Nadar prepare to announce his third presidential bid yesterday I grabbed my pen, there were sure to be quotable moments.
Quotable moment number one: “Small parties should have a presence; we should approach electoral politics like Canada and Western Europe.”
Ralph is suggesting we overturn the two party system that grew out of the tortured considerations of the founders and adopt a parliamentary system. Wow, talk about change with a capital C. I believe a vast majority of Americans find that idea a complete anathema and likely have no idea how a parliamentary system actually operates. What is the latest government count in Italy since World War II? Answer 61, almost a new government every year!
He further implies that Europe and Canada have it right and we have it wrong. That is clearly the opinion on the extreme left but it is not a mainstream perception. It might even be the perception of someone with no chance at credibility in a major party. It is not, however, a winning attitude for an aspiring President.
Quotable moment number two: “A majority of the American people support my positions.”
Ralph is suggesting that the 3.4% of the vote he received in 2000 is not indicative of the “actual” support for his positions. This is an interesting contention within the context of Ralph doing an exquisite job of discrediting Democrats who hold him responsible for Al Gore’s losing election bid. The logic applied to the two issues seems to be contradictory. The numbers did apply in one situation but not the other.
Quotable moment number three: “If the Democrats can’t win in a landslide this year they should close up shop.”
Ralph, if you are successful in getting say, 6% of the vote in key states, the Democrats are done and you will have done it again. I can see “Vote Ralph” lawn signs going up on Conservative lawns all over America.
Well, I just could not keep up with the quotable utterances after that but the context is clear:
Ø Severe reductions in military spending under the guise of efficiency. No discussion of potential consequences.
Ø Severe scale back of intelligence operations.
Ø A decidedly nightmarish regulatory context for American corporations just as we face the “flat world” competition that we must address.
Ø Significant increases in social spending and of more concern social engineering. We will fix everything! No injustice will go unattended!
Ø Workers rights legislation intended to put the Paradise in Workers Paradise.
Ralph highlights a variety of issues, first among them on the verbal list is 58,000 worker deaths, understandable. Also understandable is that the number represents 0.0193% percent of the population, less than 2 one-hundredths of one percent. We clearly have a hierarchy of problems but I’m not sure that the 2 one-hundredths of one percent slice is the headline or the properly directed point of passion.
Ralph is, well ………. Ralph is mad! He’s mad at the Democrats, he’s mad at the Republicans, He’s mad at Congress, He’s mad at the President, he’s mad at the Pentagon, he’s mad at OSHA, he’s mad at “the corporations”, mad at Hillary, mad at McCain. Man, he’s just flat mad at everyone. So in a year, so far, highlighted by a sense of optimism and desire for change Ralph appears to be going after the “mad” vote. Of course the moderate and conservative “mad” votes aren’t going running to Ralph, they never have. I can see those lawn signs now.