Poor Ralph Nader. Once, he mattered. Now, he's reduced to appearing at a Cracker Barrel in northwest Indiana:
These days, the 74-year-old champion for the people looks like just another old suit on a dusty hanger in the back of a long-forgotten closet, both figuratively and literally.
Yes, that's sad, but Nader embraces his melancholia, still preaching to the choir that long ago disappeared. The writer concludes with a plea for some new blood: "Isn't it long overdue for a new Independent Party youngblood to carry Nader's barely-lit torch . . . ?"
Well, OK. A lot of us are looking for someone to get us out of the Red State-Blue State bitterness gripping the country. But who will it be? A "progressive" like Nader will take only a thin slice from the Democrats. Libertarian Bob Barr will get just get a tiny percentage of disaffected Republicans. Ross Perot took some of the worst of Democratic and Republican ideas and created a nonsensical populist agenda that got 19 percent of the vote. Is there a party or a movement that can take some of the best of both parties and excite the electorate? Strong on national security and sensible on domestic policies?
Not yet, unfortunately.
