As RIFuture notes, Nader’s chosen Matt Gonzalez as his running mate. Matt was the prez of the San Fran Board of Supervisors, and is a good guy.  It’s not clear that they’ll run as Greens, but Matt has a ton of support in the party, and would be huge in helping Nader secure their endorsement — and the ballot lines that follow.

And, notably, this would mark the first time that somebody who’s held a serious elected office as a Green will have been part of the Green ticket.

(Matt’s replacement on the Board of Supervisors is a Rhode Islander — Ross Mirkarimi of Jamestown.)

That left-wing nutjob David Segal gave us his two cents about Nader a couple days ago. Looks like Chris Maisano of the Young Democratic Socialists (a fine organization of wonderful left-wing nutjobs) is basically in agreement.

Nader represents nobody but himself at this point in his career trajectory. He is not attached to any third party, and is not the main spokesperson for any kind of existing social and political movement. All of the social forces that brought some substance to his 2000 campaign, namely students and youth, for better or worse are clearly in Barack Obama’s camp. They will not be going anywhere else, even if Obama makes no attempt to stake out a more progressive position before the November election, assuming he is the nominee (a possibility that looks more likely every day). Nader simply does not appear to have any substantive reservoir of electoral support to draw from, rendering his effort little more than a vanity candidacy. In this context, support for the Nader campaign represents a withdrawal from actual politics and an empty moral gesture. Where the hell were you the past four years, Ralph?

Ralph, in case you didn’t notice, that was the sound of your base running out the door.

Here’s my semi-annual posting about the Green Party and instant run-off voting and such.

First off, there’s a pretty solid chance that the Green Party nomination will go to somebody other than Ralph Nader, who just announced his fourth consecutive run for the presidency. In particular, it could go to (twice-) former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. She might be a much more energetic and enticing candidate for many than a tired Ralph.

In 2004, back when I was a Green, a number of us (particularly Greens who actually held elective office) pushed back against Nader, and succeeded in denying him the party’s endorsement. (With which would’ve come dozens of ballot lines, including many in swing states.) more »