Ralph Nader and Sancho Panza

Ralph Nader has become the election year Don Quixote. His campaign has become exclusively about sticking it out so that he can stick it to the big parties, the big corporations, and the big pie-in-the-sky. He rides his stallion against the threats of the evil windmills hoping to unseat the two-party system in America. The only likely outcome for this election is that his tilting might allow the Bush administration another four years to continue their miserable policies.

With Nader and his Sancho Panza in the election, Kerry loses 1-2% in several battleground states that he would likely otherwise capture in his effort to defeat the incumbent President. This analysis encompasses the opinions of several major polling organizations including Zogby, Rasmussen, and Gallup. As the election draws nearer, Don Quixote battles the demons all around him in the hopes of revolutionizing the United States. How can he remain focused on his objectives, you might wonder, if his continued challenge threatens to bring down the very objectives for which he fights?

Our Quixote, just as the literary Don Quixote, has lost touch with the world around him. Ralph Nader deserves praise and acclamation for his work on behalf of consumers, bringing to light injustice and abuse by corporations and government. However, in the more recent past, Nader has allowed his personal ego to keep him from the truth that his campaign works only to keep those he most dislikes in power. Most pundits agree that Nader cost Gore the election in 2000, and as long as he remains in the race this year, the truth is that he may cost Kerry this election as well. We must hope that Ralph wakes up to the truth before it is too late and he has helped to re-elect the greatest single threat to the US economy in the last fifty years.