George Phillies provides the following list of upcoming campaign events for Ralph Nader: Sept. 24th, 2pm Nader/Gonzalez Rally Morgantown, WV West Virginia University, “Gluck Theater”, Mountain Lair Student Union Suggested Contribution: $10/ $5 students (312) 208-4687 or events@votenader.org Sept. 24th, 7:30pm Nader/Gonzalez Rally Pittsburgh, PA University of Pittsburgh, David Lawrence Hall, Room # 120 Suggested Contribution:$10/ $5 students (504) 319-9312 or events@votenader.org Sept. 26th, 2pm Nader/Gonzalez Rally Los Angeles, CA USC, Embassy Room- Davidson Building 3415 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90089 Suggested Contribution: $10/ $5 students (714) 803-9676 or events@votenader.org Sept. 26th, 9:30pm Bill Maher Show/ Debate After Party with Ralph Nader Hollywood, CA Social Hollywood Club 6525 West Sunset Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90028 Contribution: $25-$100 Contact Rob: (202)471-5833 or events@votenader.org Sept. 27th, 3pm Na...

I'll let Zogby International speak for itself: More than half of likely voters nationwide - 55% - want Republican-turned-Libertarian Bob Barr to participate in presidential debates this fall, while nearly half - 46% - said they think Ralph Nader should be allowed into the on-stage fray, the latest Zogby Interactive polling shows. Among political independents, 69% said Barr should be at a lectern with Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, and a majority of Republicans and Democrats agreed. Among Democrats, 52% said they think Barr should participate, while 50% of Republicans agreed. Thirty-nine percent of Democrats and 41% of Republicans said they did not think Barr should be included in the debates. The younger the respondent, the more likely they were to say that Barr should be included. Those at each end of the philosophical spectrum were more supportive of the idea of including Barr and Ralph Nader in the debates, while those in the middle were less supportive. As f...

I was reading this rather bland Political Machine report on Senator Barack Obama agreeing to three debates with Senator John McCain (sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates), when it occurred to me: it may well be in Barack Obama's best interest to accept Bob Barr and Ralph Nader in these debates . Sound counter-intuitive? Perhaps, but then again... Here's what the article notes in a kind of conventional wisdom passing way: The agreement by the Obama campaign to three debates carries a risk for the candidate. Obama is a relative newcomer to national politics, and the election is becoming a referendum on his ability to fulfill the requirements of the office of president. Three debates means more chances for a mistake that could cost him the full confidence of the voting public. The same is true for McCain; but he will enter the debates with lower expectations than Obama, and a better sense among voters of what to expect from him. Both candidates will try to lowe...

From Third Party Watch a couple of days ago: Jeremy Lott makes his intriguing case in Politico that the Democratic Party has been captured by Ralph Nader: “It’s Nader’s party now.” Back in 2000, Lott says, Al Gore ran as a “fairly conservative Democrat — certainly far more conservative than the Nobel Prize-winning party animal he’s become”—and he was more hawkish than Bush, who was promising an “humble foreign policy.” Enter Nader, running to Gore’s left and throwing the election to the Republicans in Florida with his 100,000 votes in that state. Ever since, says Lott, the Democrats have put forward progressively more liberal nominees, partly to protect their flank from the left: ...it’s becoming ever clearer that by playing the third-party spoiler, Nader won the argument about the future of the Democratic Party. These snippets made me interested in reading the original Politico article , which includes more detailed analysis: It’s tempting to claim that Bush radicalized the Democrats...

On April Fools Day I posted about the potential of minor Progressive, Libertarian, and/or Green presidential candidates to make the general election really interesting . Now there's some confirmation in early Eric-MRA polling in Michigan (as reported in Third Party Watch ), where Ralph Nader picks up 10% if the Democratic candidate is Hillary Clinton, 8% if it's Barack Obama. What's even more interesting is that Nader appears to be a true spoiler, at least for Hillary: McCain 46% Clinton 37% Nader 10% OR Obama 43% McCain 41% Nader 8% One of the commenters provided more or less the conventional wisdom about this news: Prediction #1: Nader will not get 10% of the vote in Michigan. Prediction #2: The sun will come out tomorrow. Of course, at this point (especially given the last four months) general election polls are worth precisely the paper they're no longer printed on. But still. . . .