The one thing I got extraordinarily sick of during this election was the assumption on the part of Al Gore and seemingly most Democrats that Ralph Nader owed the Democrats his votes. Joe Lieberman even publically asked Nader to withdraw from the race! -- flagrant disrespect that, needless to say, he did not show to George W. Bush. The Democrats did not seem to understand that Ralph Nader was running *against* them as well as against the Republicans. In an exit poll conducted by CNN, only half of Nader voters said they would have voted for Gore had they not voted for Nader -- this supports the Green Party's belief in its role as a true alternative. I liked the response Nader gave at his press conference yesterday. A reporter asked him something along the lines of, "How do you feel, knowing that you cost Al Gore the election, especially in Florida?" Nader just gave the reporter a dirty look and said, "I feel that Al Gore cost me the election, especially in Florida." As a Green, let me tell you: If I had wanted Al Gore to win, I would have voted for him. The same goes for most Greens that I know. Kristin PS. As regards the Florida situation -- I think it's obvious that there was a problem with the Palm Beach ballot; MSNBC showed how the ballot looked once it was put in the voting machine, and it was almost impossible to tell which arrow lined up with which hole. And they've had so many interviews with people who are just horrified that they inadvertantly voted for Pat Buchanan. That just isn't right, and since it does make a difference -- Bush currently leads Gore by less than 800 votes! -- I think that county should get to vote again.
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