A lot of Democrats are irate at news that Ralph Nader is apparently about to launch another presidential bid. I'm disappointed, not so much because I think it will take away votes that might otherwise go to defeat Bush but because, once upon a time, I liked Nader. Didn't agree with everything he said or did but I thought he achieved a fair amount of good and turned a spotlight on a lot of matters, including corporate crime, that needed some exposure. It's sad to see him turn into a guy who seems to stand primarily for self-promotion. He isn't even out to build a viable third party any more. He's just out for Ralph Nader.
That said, I have a thought…one that is probably not relevant but which I'm pondering, nonetheless.
We have this new rule that says that candidates must endorse their own campaign commercials. Somewhere down the pike, this law will probably be declared unconstitutional but right now, a commercial for John Kerry (for example) must close with Kerry himself appearing on camera and saying, "I'm John Kerry and I approved this message," or words to that effect. The idea is that this way, a candidate cannot play Good Cop and distance himself from his own commercials that insult the other guy. If he wants to say, "George W. Bush is a lying puppet of the oil companies," he can but he has to place his signature on that ad.
So here's my question: If Ralph Nader is an actual candidate with his name on some or all of the ballots out there, can't he in effect run attack ads for someone else? Kerry runs positive, non-attack ads for himself and Nader, who's running against George W. Bush after all, runs the ads that say, "George W. Bush is a lying puppet of the oil companies." And so what if Nader takes the heat for such negative campaigning? He's not going to win one state, anyway.
This is all academic, I'm sure, since Nader is not getting in as a stalking horse for the Democratic nominee. Nader is in for Nader, and will probably attack the Democrat as forcefully as the Republican. But in theory, couldn't it work the way I describe? At least a little?