Reply #14: Wishful thinking

[dolstein]

Sorry, but your argument that Gore failed to seal the deal among liberal voters doesn't fly. Liberals voted for Gore in overwhelming numbers. Indeed, Gore's support among registered Democrats was even greater than Clinton's level of support in 1996. And turnout was particularly strong among core Democratic constituencies like African Americans and union households. The reason why Gore did so well in Florida in the first place was because the base turned out in such large numbers.

The fact is, no Democrat EVER gets 100% of the Democratic vote in a presidential election, just as no Republican gets 100% of the Republican vote. The 85%+ support Gore received from Democrats is unusually high by historical standards. Nader is surely smart enough to realize this, even if his ego won't allow him to admit it publicly.

While you are correct that Clinton's personal behavior cost Gore support, this was almost entirely among independents. And Gore did about all he could to minimize the electoral damage. Indeed, Clinton's toxic affect among swing voters like blue collar women and suburban moderates was the main reason cited by campaign staff for why Clinton wasn't allowed to campaign for Gore.

If you want to argue that Clinton cost Gore the election as much as Nader, you won't get any argument from me. But the fact is, the Lewinsky scandal happened long before Nader decided to get into the race and make things even more difficult for Gore than they already were. And it certainly doesn't justify Nader's decisino to go around the country lying to voters about how Gore and Bush were essentially the same (a lie Nader continues to repeat to this day). Nor does is justify his decision to spend a disproportionate amount of time campaigning in battle ground states after having told supporters early on that he wouldn't do that. It is quite obvious that Nader structured his campaign with an eye towards inflicting maximum damage on the Gore campaign. Indeed, Nader made no secret of this. So it really is disingenuous of Nader to blame other people for costing Gore the election when Nader himself actively set out to do precisely that.