Nader and the Dems: Friends or Foes?

By William Greider, The Nation. Posted March 6, 2001.

Mention his name in the House Democratic caucus and Ralph Nader draws spontaneous boos.

Many party regulars assume that the anger and the regrets lingering from Election 2000 effectively put an end to the "Nader moment." Every right turn by George W. Bush reminds people that Nader's Green Party vote of 2.7 percent deprived Albert Gore of a clean victory. Even some erstwhile supporters are grumbling about Nader's post-election silence, depicting him as a weird recluse who's not even talking to old friends.

Representative Richard Gephardt, the House minority leader, had a different idea. He invited Nader in for a friendly chat in early February and began by congratulating him for running "a terrific campaign." According to Nader, Gephardt was especially impressed by the super rallies the Green campaign organized in city after city, filling large arenas with enthusiastic young people who paid $10 or $20 to cheer Nader's dense litany of progressive policy issues. Nobody is paying to hear us talk about policy, Gephardt observed.

Under the circumstances, it seems wiser to talk than to shun. The Democratic Party is now in the full wilderness -- complete minority status for the first time since the early 1950s -- and this fallen condition opens space for a different, more fractious kind of party politics.

Where are the Democrats? "Castaways," said Representative Dennis Kucinich, new chair of the Progressive Caucus. "We're back on the island, learning to make fires ... What happened for the last eight years was the Democrats exchanged principles for polling data."

As the minority party, Democrats are likely to experience the pressures of inside-outside politics -- unscripted and unstable -- in which numerous irregular voices claim the right to clash with the elected establishment over the party's direction and core beliefs.

Democratic senators got a first taste when their frontline constituencies mobilized against John Ashcroft for Attorney General. They coaxed or bludgeoned forty-two Democrats into voting against their former colleague (none of the senators dreaming of a future presidential candidacy dared to vote for him).

At a Washington conference on February 28, the Campaign for America's Future launches its blueprint for progressive ideas and action, "The Next Agenda," which describes leading-edge strategies for achieving universal healthcare, sustainable economics and other forward-looking goals (reminiscent of the Heritage Foundation's long-established guidebook for conservative thinking). Inside Congress, the Progressive Caucus and the Black Caucus agitate for stronger principles and stiffer backbones.

Nader and the Greens, though outsiders, are among the more distant elements of the grassroots who intend to exert influence -- supportive or threatening -- toward restoration of a more substantial Democratic Party. Nader told Gephardt he expects Greens to run as many as eighty Congressional candidates in 2002, nearly twice their list this past year. Some of these, he said, will be challenging comfortable Republicans like Representatives Tom DeLay and Dick Armey, the House leaders who are used to enjoying a free ride in Texas. "At least, it will send them a message from back home when they think it's a lifetime job," Nader explained to him. But, of course, Greens will also target Gephardt's own Democrats. "We didn't talk about that," Nader said. "He understood, though, that this is about party-building. To build a party, you're not going to help the other guy win." Gephardt's office confirmed the meeting, but declined to discuss content.

Nader and the Greens are a problem for Democrats, but might also be a useful asset -- a force for stoking popular resistance to the party's rightward drift, drawing new voters and energy into the electoral process, test-marketing advanced issues Democrats are still afraid to touch, perhaps even encouraging party discipline. "I told him I'm going to continue to help build the Green Party," Nader said, "and, where there are no Green candidates running, the spillover vote is likely to help the Democratic candidate, and the Democrats ought to recognize that." In 2000, the Green vote was decisive in defeating at least one Democratic House candidate in Michigan and dangerously close in one or two other districts. On the other hand, the Green turnout clearly helped elect Maria Cantwell to the Senate from Washington State and probably saved a couple of House Democrats in very close California races. Nader directed his personal fire at several right-wing Republicans, who lost. He also thinks Green voters helped Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow defeat hard-right incumbent Spencer Abraham (now Bush's Energy Secretary) and could have helped more if the Dems had pointed them to the most promising contests. Nader and Gephardt talked about the missed opportunities last year. It would be helpful, the two agreed, to consult more closely in the future.

Liked this story? Get top stories in your inbox each week from AlterNet! Sign up now »