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Face
Reality
By Joel Bleifuss
Supporters
of third parties have filed a suit against the Federal Election Commission,
charging that it has permitted a partisan group to ban third - party candidates
from this fall's presidential debates. The Commission on Presidential
Debates has decided only candidates who garner 15 percent support in five
national polls can participate.
The suit asks a New York federal court to issue an injunction to stop
the three debates from taking place. The plaintiffs charge that the debate
commission, a group composed entirely of Democrats and Republicans, has
written presidential debate regulations to suit their own interests. Ralph
Nader has promised to make inclusion in the debates one of his key campaign
issues.
Hello? It's called a two - party system for a reason. Somehow that fact
never sinks in. Remember 1980? That year Barry Commoner formed the Citizens
Party, galvanizing those disenchanted with Carter's conservatism in a
noble run for the presidency. But the only time the national press noticed
his campaign was when the word "bullshit" was used in a radio commercial.
In These Times editorialized back in 1980: "Both in theory and
as a practical matter, the primary emphasis on presidential politics is
a dead end. ... As a matter of practical politics, the only hope the left
has of electing progressives to office is on the scale of a legislative
election, either to state legislatures, city councils or Congress. ...
The road to power - - and, in the short run, to popular agitation around
progressive principles - - lies first through the legislature."
In 1980 it was Commoner, in 2000 it is Nader, a man who has devoted his
life to exposing the perfidious influence of corporate power. But if Nader
were serious about running for president, he would have begun laying the
groundwork for a 2000 presidential bid in 1996. And a first step would
have been helping the Green Party get its act together. (Except for in
a handful of states like New Mexico and California, the party doesn't
exist as such.)
If Nader were serious about influencing the national discourse, he would
have run in the Democratic primary, where progressive candidates have
an opportunity to present ideas that normally don't get a public hearing.
By debating Al Gore and Bill Bradley, Nader could have reached an audience
of millions. This year, more than any other, we needed a challenge to
the somnambulant corporate centrism of Gore and Bradley. Absent a third
party that is well organized from the grassroots up, progressives must
stay focused on putting pressure on those Democrats who claim to represent
them, something a Nader run for the Democratic nomination would have done
admirably.
Since Nader and the progressives who support him have neither built a
third party nor challenged the Democratic establishment, one must conclude
that candidate Nader fulfills another role - - that of civil confessor.
Citizens disgusted with the status quo can leave a voting booth with their
integrity reaffirmed.
Their message is clear: We are not serious about political change. For
too many on the left, electoral politics has devolved from civic participation
into a lifestyle choice. One eats organic food to stay healthy, exercises
to stay fit, and votes for Nader to avoid tainting principles with the
give - and - take of real politics.
But let's not blame the victim. Like the poor, those progressives disengaged
from party politics are understandably alienated. The current campaign
finance system functions as a form of legalized bribery that allows the
rich and powerful to pick and choose who gets elected. The Democratic
Party, increasingly in thrall to corporate interests, has seen its popular
base whither.
There are exceptions: In states like Minnesota and Vermont and in congressional
districts like those around the Bay Area, the progressive movement is
part and parcel of the political establishment. Those are the models to
emulate if we want to move beyond the current quadrennial exercise of
hitching our wagon to the latest progressive star.
Joel Bleifuss is the
editor of In These Times.
In These Times ©
2000
Vol. 24, No. 14
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Election
2000 Coverage
Never
Mind the Bollocks
BY BILL
BOISVERT
Here's
the new Republican Party
September
4 , 2000
The
Battle of Philadelphia
BY DAVE LINDORFF
September
4 , 2000
Working
It
BY DAVID MOBERG
Will unions go all out for Gore?
September
4 , 2000
Editorial
BY DAVID MOBERG
Big money problems.
September
4 , 2000
Cleaning
Up
BY HANS JOHNSON
Missouri, Oregon consider campaign finance initiatives
September
4 , 2000
Why
I'm Voting for Nader ...
BY ROBERT McCHESNEY
August 21,
2000
...
And Why I'm Not
BY JAMES WEINSTEIN
August 21,
2000
Dumped
BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
August 7,
2000
Bush's
dirty politics turn an Texas town into a sewer.
An
Environmental President
BY GUY SAPERSTEIN
August 7,
2000
Three's
Company
BY JOHN NICHOLS
July 10, 2000
Third parties strategize for the November elections.
Editorial
BY JOEL BLEIFUSS
June 12, 2000
Memo to third parties: Face Reality.
Marching
On
BY DAVE LINDORFF
June 12, 2000
Unity 2000 plans to disrupt this summer's GOP convention
Party
Palace
BY NATHANIEL HELLER
May 1, 2000
George W. Bush's lucrative sleepovers
Stupid
Tuesday
BY HANS JOHNSON
April 17, 2000
After Super Tuesday,
progressives mull over missed opportunities
What
Women Want
BY DAVID MOBERG
April 17, 2000
Working women's votes
could seal Al Gore's fate. But is he listening to them?
David
vs. Goliath
BY KARI LYDERSEN
April 17, 2000
Socialist presidential
candidate David McReynolds
How
to Deal with Gore
BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
and LOIS GIBBS
April 17, 2000
Love him or leave him?
Ralph
Really Runs
BY DOUG IRELAND
April 3, 2000
Nader kicks off his
second bid for president
Editorial
March 20, 2000
Flub watch.
On
the Fence
BY MATTHEW KNOESTER
March 20, 2000
Human rights or big oil for Al Gore?
The
First Stone
BY JOEL BLEIFUSS
March 6, 2000
Vanishing voters.
Gush
vs. Bore
BY DOUG IRELAND
March 6, 2000
Free
Ride
BY PAT MURPHY
March 6, 2000
Meet the real John McCain.
Cash and
Carry
BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
March 6, 2000
George W. Bush's environmental menace.
Fair
Weather Friends
BY JUAN GONZALEZ
March 6, 2000
Candidates court the Latino vote.
More
Marketplace Medicine
BY DAVID MOBERG
March 6, 2000
Neither Democrats' health plan will fix the system.
New
Labor, Old Politics
BY DAVID MOBERG
November 14, 1999
Bradley
Courts the Black Vote
BY SALIM MUWAKKIL
October 31, 1999
Changing
Primary Colors
BY DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK
June 13, 1999
The
Great Right Hope
BY RUSSELL CONTRERAS
Who is George W. Bush?
May 30, 1999
Money
Money Money!
BY NEIL SWANSON
Al Gore and Bill Bradley go one-on-one.
May 30, 1999
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