Blog for Iowa is pleased to announce we have our very own columnist.  His name is Ira Lacher, he is a professional writer, and he did media work on the Iowa Dean campaign.  Not one to mince words, Ira's pieces will be sharp and opinionated - just what we need to spice up Blog for Iowa!

The "N" Word

OK -- Ralph Nader did not put George W. Bush in the
White House. Five right-wing judges did. But neither
did Ralph Nader "steal" votes from Al Gore. Al Gore
gave away those votes because he convinced enough
progressives that he was no progressive.

You would think that the Democrats had learned from
that debacle, as well as the disastrous 2002 elections
in which progressives stayed home in hordes rather
than vote for either a Republican conservative or a
Democratic conservative. But no. Not for nothing is the
symbol of our party an ass.

Because we're prepared to do it again. John Kerry
seems to be making it clear that his strategy against
Bush will be the same strategy that dispatched all his
challengers during the primaries: driving his
Hupmobile straight down the clean, safe middle.

So he's not advocating to repeal NAFTA -- a sellout of
American workers in favor of corporate profits. Just
retool it. Not repeal No Child Left Behind -- a clear
ingredient on the road to privatizing education. Just
fund it. Not denounce involvement in Iraq and get us
the hell out of there -- and suggest a way to turn
over the country to an international commission that
can try to undo the doodoo we caused. Just maybe send in MORE troops to quell the "insurgency."

And waiting in the wings is Nader, saying quietly and
earnestly, that neither Republicans nor Kerry-led
Democrats can install a true progressive government.
And waiting outside voting booths are thousands of
progressives who won't take much to be convinced.

Ira Lacher can be reached here.