Hunting The Muse

Testing Ralph Nader to see if he fits the definition of a ThirdPartySpoiler:

• Nader is running for President. This is a fact.
• Nader is running against Kerry and Bush, both of who have a clear shot at winning
• Nader is clearly closer to Kerry in ideological support, as evidenced by how the poll numbers break down when Nader is removed from the equation
• Our election system does not allow voters to record choice preferences. Only first choice counts.

Possibly contested:

By the election, all of Nader's supporters will have had to have heard the logic that voting for Nader makes Bush's re-election more possible. In this sense, if they are voting for Nader anyway, knowing that Nader cannot win, then they are basically saying that if Nader is in the race, they prefer Bush to Kerry, even if otherwise they would prefer Kerry to Bush. So, this might be reason to believe that Nader's objective support is not ideologically closer to Kerry. In other words, if the result throws the election to Bush, due to the voting action of several people that know the effects of their action, then DemocraticIntent might actually be served.