The Political Voices of Women

Will you be supporting Ralph Nader or Bob Barr for President? Or, do you think they will be “spoilers” for Barack Obama and John McCain? Here are some video clips and opinions from other bloggers. Let me know what you think in comments.

Here is a clip with interviews from Ralph Nader and Bob Barr…

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What is a Spoiler? This is from The Morning Sentinel…

Jim Brunelle’s June 26 column accusing Libertarian Bob Barr of stealing Ralph Nader’s perennial mantle of election year “Spoiler” moved me to ponder the word’s definition.

Consulting my mind rather than Webster’s Unabridged, because one’s “mind” is where one usually finds meaning and context when reading a newspaper, I suppose “spoiler,” in this context, indicates to me something which has a negative impact on something positive.

Thus, if Brunelle is correct, anything or anyone that interferes with the assumed exclusive franchise of the Republicrats and Democans to pick the American pocket would be a “spoiler.” That suggests an element of heresy or disloyalty on the part of anyone who would question, or support a questioning of, the status quo.

The problem with trying to define and identify “spoilers,” and differentiate them from “whiners,” is that the answer depends upon where one is standing.

The only thing certain is that “spoiler” is a term used exclusively by Republicrats and Democans.

From Ruth’s Report: Ralph Nader, lessons from 2004

Who will protect the elderly? Barack Obama who cannot get their support? Not very likely. But one candidate has a record of working to protect Americans and would work hard to protect us all: Ralph Nader.

At Ralph Nader’s website you can see where he stands on the issues…

http://www.votenader.org/issues/

Bob Barr Brings His Cause To The American Public…

Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr is making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows (last week it was “Fox News Sunday”; today it was ABC’s “This Week”), hoping his anti-big-government message will resonate with voters fed up with what he calls “the nanny state.”

And just what is the nanny state? “It is a federal government that has become so big that it has stifled individual liberty and freedom in this country,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “And Americans realize that.”

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Will Bob Barr be a spoiler for the Republican Party? The Bob Barr website is hoping to debunk that idea…

http://blog.bobbarr2008.com/2008/07/02/debunking-the-spoiler-myth/

From Independent Political Report…

In a recent CNN interview with Rick Sanchez, independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader concurred with a Wall Street Journal editorial in saying that Barack Obama is “running for Bush’s third term.” Nader says that Obama’s positions are “congenial to corporate America” and instead of “talking white,” of which Nader has accused him, or “talking black,” Obama should be “talking justice.” He pointed out that Obama is receiving more corporate money for his presidential run than any other candidate in U.S. history.

When asked if Obama was merely moving to the center in order to have a better chance of winning a national election, Nader said that this was the failed strategy of Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry, and that Clinton “only won because of Ross Perot” — an interesting argument for the man so often accused of being a “spoiler” and allowing Bush to win in 2000.

What do you think? Will you be voting for Bob Barr or Ralph Nader this November? Or, do you see them as “spoilers” for Barack Obama and John McCain?

[cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog]