Thomas the Rhymer, you nailed it quite succinctly. Thanks for that.

Everyone knows Nader isn't going to be president, including Nader. But he isn't running to be the president. He is running to get the progressive agenda into the public debate, if possible. It may not be possible. We are set to be inundated with a barrage of irrelevant television messages, known as campaign ads, in a war for the White House. In other years, we've just had campaigns. Not this time. More money will be spent on this campaign than any other in history (same as the last election, and the one before that...).

We are in this mess because we live in an era of unprecedented greed, avarice, and corruption. Nader is uncorruptable. John Kerry, weeelll...not so much. Bush/Cheney defines the word.

I think people should be grateful to Nader for running. He will be putting his own personal fortune on the line to do it, as last time. He has only this race, before he is utterly dismissed as a perennial third party candidate. But because of the success of his run in 2000, which mostly saw him help the Greens here and there, and sometimes get the progressive agenda into the public debate.

Now, in the mainstream media, there really is no such animal as public debate anymore. But there are other ways to influence people, and one is by being able to get to the places where issues are being discussed--public policy forums, book events, C-SPAN type stuff, debates. Nader is truly the only hope for the progressive agenda at this point. The only hope in this election year.

I donated $25 to his campaign last night at voteNader.org. I'm still donating to Kerry. We can support more than one candidate. There is no law that says we must pick one, and never change our minds, and never sway from the party line. This is supposed to be a democracy. People need to act like we actually live in one, and dare to stray beyond conventional status quo politics. Now, more than ever.