Originally posted by: Hafen
Democrats blaming Nader for Gore's loss is like blaming the dog for pissing on the rug when you refused to take him outside.
If Democrats never learn the lessons of the 2000
and 2002 elections, they will just continue to get their A55es handed to them. The Clinton revolution, which brought strong centrist policies, allowed the alienation of the hard left and their subsequent defection to the Greens and other parties. Gore's campaign, although earning a record number of votes, still only held a
slim majority, even in the pop vote. He should have killed W, a novice politician w/ little experience and poor mastery of the spoken english language, meanwhile Gore was VP under a hugely popular

)) Pres, and a historic economy. The election was his to lose, and he did. Gore can only blame Gore for this.
There are 16M people in Florida (not sure how many can vote, maybe 10M?) 90k (reported) for Nader is 0.6% of the population. To blame this tiny percentage is stupid when you allowed it to get that close anyway.
I say a vote for Nader was not a waste, nor is a vote for Dean, if they represent the principals you believe in. If the Dems want these votes, they are going to have to bring back and better balance policies to satisfy their leftist base. Gore's endorsement of Dean can be seen as a powerplay to do this. The loss to W and the Repubs was a painful lesson to learn, but perhaps neccesary. The Dems better figure who thier voters are quick if they want to start winning elections again.