I was seriously considering voting for Nader, a man whom I have met and o some small degree worked with (more with the Raiders than with Nader, himself.)

I am becoming increasingly concerned that soft-cynics, feeling dissatisfied with the indubitable deficiencies of the Presidential selection process, will cast what are essentially feel-good votes for Nader, a man who, within his level of competence, has been brilliant. Those people can convince themselves that they are striking a blow for good government by voting for Nader. This is much easier than going out and taking real action on a grass roots level. I think most everyone will have to admit that Nader is not Presidential in background. Even Carter, who had morals, vision and courage was ineffective when faced with the complexities of Iran and the economy. Bush Two will have to rely on advisors. Politics is the art of the possible, the art of compromise. His advisors are people who are interested in elections, not politics.

I hope that when people consider what will happen during the coming years when we have to rely on the courage, vision and morality of a President faced with weapons of mass destruction, global warming, and the ten or fifteen crises that undoubtably will happen in the next four years, it will be far better to have a man who is smarter, better prepared and has a vision compass that goes beyond the next election.

I have decided not to vote for Nader but will vote for Gore.

Sourdough

PS: When I lived in DC, I spent a lot of time with people whose job was elections, not politics. I learned something about hte mechanics of running Presidential campaigns. THis one will go down, I am sure, as an excellent example of how campaign people managed to let one canditate frame the view of the other.

One last thing: On the topic of how well Truman turned out. Well, Truman was a man whose knowledge and indepencence were well known before he succeeded to the Presidency. The Truman Commission had already shown him to be an honest man who had long ago autgrown the local graft of his home state.