Spoiler Alert

Ralph Nader has returned to the presidential race. And, as usual, the word 'spoiler' is being attached to his candidacy. Because the American presidential system is designed for two parties, any third party candidate gets tarred with the term. Every story about his candidacy has trotted out the fury many Democrats have for the man because of the 2000 election. The Associated Press in particular gets an 'F' for effort. All it could seem to muster was a terse two paragraph story with the liberal fury bit as its second item. At least the BBC went the extra mile to spell out his consumer advocacy credentials. It never occurs to either the press or the Democrats that maybe Al Gore was the reason Al Gore lost the 2000 election. Moreover, Nader is right to note that if the Democrats succeeed in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the upcoming election, they ought to pack their bags and call it a day. Obama offered this telling opinion regarding Nader's entry:

"He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work."

Hello!? Isn't that a prerequisite for any presidential candidate?

In a nation that prides itself on being able to choose from 30 different flavors of ice cream, isn't it time that Americans began priding themselves on more choices of viable political parties? Why should that kind of choice be left to the Europeans? Nader has the right to run and to rise and fall on his own merits at the ballot box just like any other candidate. The built in cultural bias toward the two dominant parties we currently have does a disservice to the public and the parties themselves. This nation was built on revolutionary ideas. Nader deserves to run on his.