good points all around, EJ...but it's not like the Green Party sprang up just this year because Ralph decided to officially run for office.

The Green Party has been a viable party in Europe for two decades now and it has failed to catch on in the United States primarily because there has not been any one candidate which has inspired a following...for that reason alone, Nader could be considered part of that burgeoing movement, to prime the canvas for a viable third party in the manner you are suggesting...

In other words, it's not just Nader people are passionate about; it's the Green Party platform. LaDuke's positions embody these principles as well.

I will be the first to admit the Green Party seems a bit discombobulated at times: full of socialists and hippies and reluctant Libertarians and back-to-the-landers and pagans and feminists and environmental activists, etc. and they don't all agree on what the platform is and so they often cannot agree on who their best candidates are...but they are pretty much all behind Nader now.

They also seem to agree it is time for America to break free from the corporate stranglehold on the government and the media...and Nader is all about that.