Thanks, Ralph
Editorial / .sfbg.com 8nov00

THE REAL VICTORY in Ralph Nader's presidential campaign is not the relatively modest number of votes he received – it's the fact that the campaign happened at all.

Nader showed that he and the Green Party were capable of running a serious, credible, grassroots electoral campaign for the highest office in the land. Nader drew packed audiences, attracting 15,000 to a sold-out speech at Madison Square Garden, and 10,000 to a rally in Portland, Ore. He energized thousands of activist voters, raised issues that the major candidates (and major media) wanted to ignore and, at the end, even forced Al Gore to move a little to the left on environmental issues.

Nader was widely seen as a spoiler, and in a sense, he was: He wanted to spoil the ability of the two parties to control American politics without offering any real choices or policy alternatives. The Green Party isn't going to be a force in American politics tomorrow – but if Nader's goal was to help build a credible third-party alternative, his campaign was a solid start.

The Green Party needs to devote most of its energy and money to local races and local operations. In some cities (Madison, Wis., for example) the Greens are a real electoral force. The San Francisco Greens have already become a force on key initiatives and issues (Sunshine, Municipal Utility District, etc.). And when Greens are getting elected to state legislative posts all over the country, a Green presidential campaign may become more than a battle to qualify for federal matching funds.

But for now Nader deserves thanks for a great campaign, a great effort, and a great boost to a fledgling party that has demonstrated that it is only going to get stronger as the Democrats continue to ignore and erode their own base.