Six and a half out of ten former Nader supporters agree: Progressive voters in swing states should cast their ballots for John Kerry.
In September 2000, Ralph Nader selected 113 people to make up his ???Nader 2000 Citizens Committee.??? Today, 74 of these leftist luminaries, including Noam Chomsky, Wendell Berry, Barbara Ehrenreich and Cornel West, have posted a petition that claims, ???For people seeking progressive social change in the United States, removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority of the 2004 presidential election.??? To read the petition and its signees, click here.
The petition is hardly a statement of solidarity with Kerry; indeed, it claims, ???we strongly disagree with Kerry???s policies on Iraq and other issues.??? However, I imagine the signees feel similar to ITT Contributing Editor Doug Ireland, who supported Nader in the last two elections but wrote the following today on his (excellent) new blog:
I personally do not expect much more from a Kerry administration than an end to assaults on the Constitution, science, and queers. But that is more than enough to urgently command a vote against Bush. Decisions are made by those who show up! If you are too apathetic or too cynical to show up, you will get the government, and future, you deserve.
Brian Cook was an editor at In These Times from 2003 to 2009. He now works on the editorial staff of Playboy magazine.
