W won Florida by < 1000 votes. People who voted for Nader in Florida >>> 1000 votes.
No, Jimmy. W won Florida with
2,912,790 votes. Not a thousand.
"By", not "with". You say that Jimmy is bad at math, but do not even understand the concept of a Δ?
It's funny, you "moderates" accuse "progressives" of every evil under the sun, just for our supposed disloyalty to a Party we never promised loyalty to, and which promises us nothing at all.
A presidential election is a binary choice. Ralph Nader was never getting elected president, the choice was between Gore and Bush.
In a system like France, where there is a top-two runoff when no candidate gets a majority, it's fine to vote your conscience (i.e. vote for hopeless candidates to send a message). But in the US system, vote is not just state-by-state, but also only requires plurality, rather than majority, which means that votes for 3rd party candidates are effectively wasted, at least in swing states.
As to Gore/Dem "promises us nothing at all", Gore was actually a pretty progressive candidate, esp. on climate. The "not a dime's worth of difference" was a stupid quip.
But you'll take any opportunity to excuse Republicans for being Republicans, finger-wag us for so much as daring to criticize them.... for intentionally throwing away our democracy.
Florida Republicans who voted for W got the candidate who was better aligned with their views and values than the alternative.
Florida voters who voted for Nader got the candidate who was far less aligned with their views and values than the alternative.
Again, it was a binary choice: Bush or Gore.
Never mind that we are among the most consistent of Democratic voting blocs and usually do hold our nose and vote for the Party approved candidate. Never mind that when we are doing a protest, we usually vote for a third party, as opposed to "moderates", who when discontent directly cast votes for the enemy. As thousands did in Florida.
Moderate independents are usually between the two major party candidates. They may be more aligned with the one over the other on various issues, but there is a balance. You are to the left of Gore though. That means that while you may not have been super excited about Gore, he was still far closer to you than Bush. And yet, by stubbornly voting for Nader, you helped Bush get elected. It's an absolute strategic fail.
I do not understand why this is so difficult for some people to grasp.
But no, it's not the conservatives' fault. Never the conservatives' fault.
They helped elect whom they wanted - the conservative president. You helped elect somebody who is diametrically opposed to your views - the conservative president. Do you not understand the difference? It's not rocket surgery.
Even the ones who are registered Democrats. Yes two million people voted for George W. Bush, but it's not their fault. How could it be their fault? A few thousand environmentalists made them do it. Those poor, oppressed conservatives, forced to betray their country!
The "few thousand environmentalists" helped Bush get elected even though Al "Inconvenient Truth" Gore was far more aligned with their views, especially on the environment. It is certainly their fault. It's also the fault of Palm Beach County mouth breathers who could not figure out the ballot.