Open Letter to Ralph Nader

Dear Ralph:

When George W. Bush squeaked into Office, you were unrepentant about your decision to run for President in 2000. You have remained unrepentant ever since, and even today you are considering making another presidential bid next year.

Initially, your unrepentant stance was admirable. It was ridiculous for Gore Democrats to try to shift the blame for Gore's loss from Gore himself to you!

And even after Bush was selected, the logic of your presidential campaign was more convincing than ever: the Republican and the Democratic parties appeared to be essentially indistinguishable.

But as time has passed, it is clear to us--as people who voted for you--that your campaign was a mistake, and it's time for us to switch from being "unrepentant" Nader voters to being "repentant" ones.

Why? Tweedle dee is still tweedle dee, but tweedle dum has turned into a global tyrant.

Since entering office, George W. Bush has surprised even those who feared him most. He has neglected the poor and the uninsured--while piling tax breaks on those who don't need them. He has undermined the ability of the United Nations to uphold the international rule of law. He has waged an illegal war, killing and wounding thousands of civilians and soldiers. He has weakened the Bill of Rights. And more.

His presidency has been so destructive that the premise of your campaign--that the two parties are controlled by the same special interests and are therefore identical--has been proven wrong. If Al Gore were our President, we can be sure that significant disasters would have been avoided, including the tax cuts for the rich, the near destruction of the United Nations, the Iraq War, and more.

And even worse are the initiatives that the Bush Administration will likely roll out in the future. His advisors assert that tax breaks for the wealthy will be an annual Bush feature, slowly disassembling the federal government as we know it. With this Bush in office there is a greater potential for more war. The Patriot Act II is already drafted. The Supreme Court is still vulnerable. Healthcare, education, international aid, and other unmet needs are being ignored. The list goes on and on.

The Bush nightmare might have been avoided if over 2.5 million of us had not voted for you in the last election. While we do not blame you or ourselves for the Gore loss, it is irrefutable that Bush might not be in office if you had not been a candidate.

It is for this reason that we repent and pledge to support the presidential candidate who's got the best chance of defeating George W. Bush in 2004.

We ask that you join us in repenting and make the same pledge. By doing so, you would join a growing number of citizens who voted for you but now believe that your campaign in 2000 was a mistake.

Once Bush is out of office and tweedle dee or tweedle dum runs Washington again, we may write another open letter to you, pleading that you again run for President. You are a great candidate and passionate activist. It seemed to make great sense for you to run for President in 2000 and to try to attract 5% of the national vote, securing federal matching funds for the next election. This cash would have allowed you to air the important issues that the major parties are ignoring.

But faced with the surreal reality that we confront in Washington today, we beseech you not to run next year and to call on all those who voted for you to join together in support of a candidate that has a real chance to defeat Bush.

It's time to repent...because Bush is so bad.

Yours,

RepentantNaderVoter.com