Anytime any American hears the name Ralph Nader, they automatically think of the past two Presidential elections. Many blame him for taking votes away from the Democratic candidates, which assisted George W. Bush into victory, when he ran as a member of The Green Party and as an Independent. “An Unreasonable Man” shines some historical light on the Man in Green from his beginnings in politics to his choice to run for President in 2000 and 2004. It’s a nice refresher course to remind us how hard Nader has fought for everyday citizens, ultimately saving hundreds of lives in the long run.
What do you really know about Ralph Nader prior to 2000? He was very active in consumer rights and played a key role in big car companies into looking harder at the safety of their cars. Seatbelts? Nader played an important role in getting car companies installing them in each automobile. Airbags? Yes, he was a major player on that one too. As a lawyer, he fought hard to get laws passed regarding such issues.
Nader also voiced heavily against nuclear power plants, claiming accidents caused by them could yield disastrous results. No one took him seriously until an accident in Pennsylvania proved he might have been on to something. It’s an inspirational story to many Americans thinking change is impossible or that a single person can’t do anything to change things.
Then comes the infamous 2000 election. Supporting Nader that year were many politically active celebrities (like Michael Moore, Eddie Vedder and Tim Robbins) as well as the public; yet, he was excluded from the public debates since he wasn’t seen as being an important factor.
It’s funny… for someone labeled a non-factor, how come blame came his way when Bush was finally given the presidency in 2000? It didn’t seem to matter that Gore lost his home state and Clinton’s?
In 2004, the same people that supported him turned their backs on him since they once again saw him as a threat for the Democrats. All Nader wants is the opportunity to bring another political party into play since the Republican and Democratic parties are becoming more corrupt (and useless you have to admit) as time goes on. It’s a laudable idea (and hopefully someday this will come into fruition) but taking 5% of the votes to create another party isn’t going to hurt anyone’s campaign in long run. If the vote is that close, like it was in 2004, that just goes to show that maybe these two choices can’t be the best ones for the job, can they?
“An Unreasonable Man” takes the story of a man usually associated with being an egomaniac, megalomaniac and even psychologically disturbed (as one man puts it) and creates a fascinating account of a man typically known just for rabblerousing two elections.
