Folks should take note that Ralph Nader doesn't go away.
Now that he has officially tossed his hat into the ring of presidential politics, once again, he gets an opportunity to speak out on a national plaform to remind us of what he thinks in the long off-season.
Public Citizen, his years old organization is the author of some pretty decent white papers. I've referenced them on occasion in the past for issues like redlining. In the din of spin, Nader comes off as an anti-corporate crank (which isn't altogether untrue), and a spoiler for the Democrats (which is true, but not this year). But that doesn't change the fact that he has experience as a grass-roots organizer and is much more likely to have a firm grip on issues and policy than most of the front-runners. The problem is, of course, people don't vote for their permanent interests because their permanent interests aren't interesting to the press and the parties during the long off-season.
The Democrats are sounding like spoiled children. They are supposed to own the anti-corporate activism. They don't of course, but they want to appear to have a monopoly. Which only goes to highlight how foolish it is that a) we don't have a real third party and b) that there isn't much business between elections in the grass roots wonk department.
Black politics, however is more attuned to grass roots wonking. Or at least it ought to be considering how overwhelmed it is with its signature preoccupations: racism, civil rights and police brutality. Understanding that Nader is never going to win, just as Sharpton is never going to win reminds us that while the spotlight is always going to shine during presidential elections, it's what happens in the dark that matters. This is why Sharpton lasted longer than Mosely-Braun. Nobody knows what the ex-senator stands for when she's not running for office. Sharpton, on the other hand, can command attention at will.
The recent flap over Sharpton's back office staff being populated by Republicans illustrates how important it is to have something going on when elections are not happening. That means money.
This is something Nader evidently can do, can we?