MAKES YOU WANNA RALPH:

Beyond left-right: Nader coalition's possible appeal to traditionalist conservatives (Mark Wegierski, March 8, 2004, Enter Stage Right)

Although independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is conventionally said to attract left-wing Democrats, he may also appeal to some traditionalist conservatives, and thus weaken Bush's support in the "Red" heartland and among some eclectic urban subsectors. [...]

In its self-understanding, traditionalist philosophy shares with ecology a profound disgust with the late modern world, a critique of current-day capitalism, and an embrace of healthy and thrifty living -- rejecting what it sees as the current-day, ad-driven, consumption culture of brand fetishism and profligate waste. The possible commonalities and convergences of traditionalism and ecology have been pointed out by, among others, British political theorist John Gray (formerly at Oxford, now at LSE) in his essay "An Agenda for Green Conservatism" (in Beyond the New Right: Markets, Government and the Common Environment (Routledge, 1993)). John Gray has also written, among other works: False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism (Granta, 1998), which has been described by conservative commentator John O'Sullivan as "...an attack on globalization written with the dash and recklessness of a Polish cavalryman" ("Gray Dawn: The new tack of an ur-conservative." National Review, March 5, 2001, pp. 39-41).

The broadly centrist criticisms of traditionalist conservatism and the ecological Left are manifest: regardless of the traditionalist conservative claim to social and political realism, and ecology's claim of scientific justification -- they are both today nothing more than wildly utopian ideologies, endeavoring to force people into an idealized straight-jacket of what amounts to virtually the same type of materially immiserated existence -- whether for "cultural-moral" or "ecological-conservationist" reasons. Neither traditionalist conservatism nor the ecological Left appear to understand the essence of the processes of wealth-creation in a free economy.

From the center perspective, the supporters of figures like Nader and Buchanan are indeed highly similar, and deservedly on the fringes of American politics.

If Nader were to come out against immigration, for the ostensible purpose of protecting American jobs, and combine that with protectionism and isolationism, his campaign would indeed be indistinguishable from Pat Buchanan's past efforts and could probably draw a decent proportion of the Perot/Buchanan-types. Add them to the hardcore peaceniks and deep environmentalism types on the Left; mix in some other common causes like anti-Zionism; and he's a 5%+ candidate.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 8, 2004 8:51 AM