The Florida Supreme Court has decided, much to the angst of Terry McCauliffe et al, to allow Ralph Nader to be the Reform Party candidate in Florida. I applaud the Florida SC for upholding democratic principals and would like for Mr. McCauliffe to answer the question of why the Democrats are so afraid of competition.

It's interesting that Mr. Nader receives so much attention, even being listed as the third candidate in nation wide polling, but let's not forget that he is not the Green Party candidate this year. That distinction belongs to Mr. David Cobb. No one seems to be paying attention to him or to the other candidates that are out there such as the Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik. While I don't agree with the Libertarian platform, I do give them points for being brave enough to post the results of a poll that show them losing.

What's my point? Good question. Basically I think that the media (and Mr. McCauliffe) are paying too much attention to just Mr. Nader. There are other groups and individuals who can siphon away votes from both parties, but most likely from the Democrats. The Green's, while being whackos, have been staunchly "anti-war" from the beginning, something that John Kerry has not been. The Libertarians are pro-drug use (well, ok, they are pro "freedom" which includes the freedom to use drugs so long as they "...live up to the consequences of their actions..." which I find troubling because it has no guarantees for victims of drug abusers, their families, friends, etc. but that's another subject) these two groups can and will draw a fair percentage of the "ultra left" voters away from Mr. Kerry.