HUZZAH!

WASHINGTON - Ralph Nader, the third-party candidate viewed by many Democrats as the spoiler of the 2000 election for taking votes away from Al Gore, has decided not to run on the Green Party ticket next year, a party spokesman said Tuesday.

Nader, who garnered nearly 3 percent of the national vote in the last presidential election, has not ruled out running for president as an independent and plans to make a decision by January.

"I think we're all a little bit disappointed," said Scott McLarty, a Green Party spokesman. "I suspect Mr. Nader would have gotten the nomination." (full story)

His Holiness St Ralph has yet to rule out running as an independent. However, I doubt this will come to pass, for two reasons. First, he spoke in the past about "building his party", the Green Party, and just as Nader himself served to split the Gore vote in 2000, a 2004 independent run would split the Green Party. Of course, that would fit perfectly into Ralph's clear plan to give progressives even less of a voice in electoral politics, but I don't think he's that cynical.

Second, if Nader runs as an independent, it would essentially prove that his campaigns are primarily about him. Ego trips fueled by megalomania and a self-professed angelic purity.

But anyway, as a registered Democrat who was on to his electoral folly in 2000, I view this as nothing other than good news.