Now that it is obvious that American voters' disgust with Bush, while at an all time high, is still less than American voters' disinterest/disgust with Kerry, it looks like Bush may be a shoe in come November.

With Kerry being so gung-ho in support of continuing the war on Iraq and staying the Bush course there, the ONLY alternative for the peace movement is Nader. So what appears to be happening now is that while Nader can't beat Bush when you put them head to head, there may just be a realistic chance he can beat Kerry, take enough Bush votes, and register enough new/inactive voters who want to register a protest vote, to do what Ventura did to win the governor's race in Minnesota.

And Nader can possibly do it without campaigning against Kerry at all, and focusing his entire campaign message on being the anti-war, anti-corporate, anti-Bush alternative candidate.

What I guess I'm saying is, Nader is looking like the candidate the Dems SHOULD have nominated, but refused to, and now appear to be paying the price for choosing the most unelectable candidate of the once strong field of Democratic candidates.

What with the shaky economy (from the point of view of the workers who lean Democratic or independent, not investors who lean almost exclusively Republican), the quagmire in Iraq, and the US foreign policy and home fronts being in such disarray, Nader is the only alternative to Kerry that most Democrats can support without feeling like they are supporting a lunatic fringe candidate.

So if voters start gravitating towards Nader over summer because of strong alienation from both parties and the current state of affairs, what impact on the American electorate might we see?

If a Ventura factor plays itself out?

In the Minnesota race, Ventura was able to run a viable media campaign with few campaign volunteers on the ground and virtually no money. He was able to bring in enough voters who either had never voted or hadn't voted in several elections, who wanted to register a protest vote against the two party duopoly. Finally, Ventura drew enough voters disgusted with both parties away from both the Democrats and Republicans, to win the race in a three way split.

If it happened in a battleground state in recent times, why couldn't it happen on the national level too, at a time when it is obvious that voters are fed up and disgusted by both parties, and there is such a deep sense that the nation is careening out of control down the wrong course?