An Unreasonable Man

So I watched the Ralph Nader biography, An Unreasonable Man, yesterday. (This instant gratification was brought to you by Netflix Instant View!) As movies go, it was nothing remarkable, but I did find the different reactions to Nader quite interesting. Some of his early devotees (“Nader’s Raiders”) spoke of him with great fondness and devotion, even when disagreeing strongly with various things he’s done over the years. A couple of liberal college professor types were nearly foaming at the mouth in anger that Nader was responsible for keeping Democrats from the White House in 2000. It sure sucks being a third party candidate in this country, doesn’t it? I’m amazed by Nader’s integrity and fortitude in keeping up the good fight despite huge personal risks.

Unfortunately, the movie didn’t cover the issues he stands for in much depth, other than his well-known consumer advocacy and belief that Democrats and Republicans are equally beholden to corporate special interests. It’s hard to find fault with his views, at least in the general way expressed by the film, but I retained my impression that he wouldn’t make a great POTUS (though it seems clear he never expected to actually hold the office, anyway). I certainly came away from the movie with a desire to learn more about the Green party and the numerous issues Nader has championed over the years.

I wouldn’t vote for him, but…

I just wandered over to glassbooth.org out of curiosity to see if their nifty quiz that takes a given set of political views and matches them to the 2008 presidential candidate who most agrees with them was still available. It was, so I took it for old time’s sake. Result? Ralph Nader.

I actually got the same answer during the campaign season but ignored it since Nader has never seemed like a credible candidate to me. He seems to have a useful role as a gadfly to the political establishment, but I can’t imagine him as the actual leader of our nation. Still, now that I’m considering political ideology rather than specific candidates, it’s probably worthwhile to look into his views, even if his personality isn’t one I’d want to have in the White House. Next movie in my Netflix queue: An Unreasonable Man.