first he is not a Dem...there are alot of key issues he is for that the Dems are not for...Some are issues that some Dems happen to also back...some are some they may back personalty but will not back as a party...some are that both parties are run buy special interest and care more about being elected then doing there jobs...and that we need more then 2 options...I did not support Gore because he failed to back at least 5 key issues for me...( alot more then that actually...I did not even by his being a environmentalist as I had not seen much action on it in 8 years, and he would not talk about it during Elections...because like many Dems...less so after Bush...he was scared to say you know what I am liberal, and you know what your wrong...and here is why...vote for me...no they pander and try to find the middle ground and pretend the other side has a valid point...then trade more away to special interest and end up with a bill that says what you want to hear, and does none of it. Libertarians are very far off From the Green party..so I am not shocked...
as for how I ended up with Edwards...this was 2004, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan going already....Nader would have taken the actions I think would have helped prevent both wars...but I did not trust him in charge of the wars after the fact. he also Ran without party packing and I did not care for his VP..Edwards, to me spoke to the middle class, the workers...and I felt a connection like somehow he actually got it...I did not agree on everything, but was the best of the Dems, and no third party appealed to me. Also his idea of medical court system that would rule early if medical cases had merit to go to trial..to reduce the large amount of frivolous lawsuits appealed to me as a sensical way to deal with it. When he lost to Kerry, who I did not care for, and was I have to say good and convincing Kerry backers to change to Edwards ( alot of Kerry backers only backed him because they thought he was best to beat Bush...not because the liked him more) But I had one mission...BUSH must go down, at any cost...I actuly liked his dad...I had no hate of Regan , I liked Bob Dole....I hate/d Bush...and I think it was sad in 2000 he was the best leader the Republican party had to offer,..if you lined up evry Republican house , Senate, and Gov of a state...I would have ranked him at the far end of the list in terms of smart enough, and qualified enough. And the Iraq was to me, was just a throw away of 4000 American lives...do to his fantisy world view and lack of planning ( and I belive at best misleading of the facts building up to the war) so I worked for kerry...though I did not realy care much about him and hated how he stood there and got swift boated.. Dems to often seem want to seem all nice to all...sometimes you need to just say you know what , they are idiots and I am not going to take this from them...not ignore and hope they go away.
In 2008...I had only one Dem i wanted...Biden...( Wes Clark was my VP choice for him) and again there was no major third party guy..) I worked with the Independence party of Minnesota, and spoke at our Constitutional meeting on joining with some other states parties...to basically put Bloomburg out as a third party guy...but after all his wink wink nudge nudge I will run...he did not, so no third party I liked . ( I like libertarian party on Social issues, not Finance)
Also I voted for Perot and Ventura ( Ventrua, best Gov this state has had in years...Pawlenty the worst by far. We had some good Republican ones before him...
Well stated, Pockets. I just hope you never run for office, as you'll never get elected by expressing your positions on so many issues. To get elected, it is necessary to obfuscate and try to make as many disparate voters as possible think you espouse their views.
Colon Powell expressed his views on the issues of the day in a similar manner, and didn't get anywhere in politics. I'm not sure whether he really wanted to or not. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to run for national office, not the way it's being done currently, but that's just me.
BTW, Nader is a Green, not a Libertarian.