
Ralph Nader: Why Bernie Sanders Was Right to Run as a Democrat - acbilimoria
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/03/25/ralph-nader-why-bernie-sanders-was-right-to-run-as-a-democrat/
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redwood
I love that he skips over the elephant in the room:that without his
independent run, we would not have had G. W. Bush as president.

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danharaj
Why is it relevant?

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gjm11
Because one reason why Sanders was right to run as a Democrat rather than as
an independent is that running as an independent might have enabled a
Republican victory that wouldn't otherwise have happened, in which case
Sanders's hypothetical independent campaign might be responsible for making
Trump or Cruz president, which Sanders probably doesn't want.

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danharaj
Right? I really don't like that point of view, because it gives the incumbent
power structures a legitimacy they don't deserve. I think it is folly to
criticize dissenters for dissenting too hard instead of falling in line. The
lesser of two evils is still evil. It is not right to judge someone negatively
for rejecting two choices they find unacceptable.

Ralph Nader and Bernie Sanders are not responsible for the flaws of the system
they choose to operate inside or outside of.

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mhurron
Because if you want anyone to listen to you at all you have to run as one of
the two approved parties.

We really need a whole article to state that?

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danharaj
No. Most of the article was supporting evidence from a primary source.

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rumcajz
On the other hand, here's Karl Popper's cause for two-party system:
[http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/01/ka...](http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/01/karl-
popper-democracy)

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donarb
The irony is that Nader does not even admit his culpability in this equation.
Leaving aside the disastrous Bush v Gore thing, Nader destroyed the Green
Party's chance at creating a 3rd party movement that could have born fruit
about now. He took all of the money that the Greens had socked away for their
bottom up strategy, and set back 3rd party aspirations by 20 years.

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kzrdude
If you want a progressive party to exist, someone has to step up to try to
lead in that direction. Sanders and his supporters are trying.

