Letter to Ralph Nader
- written on Monday, November 10, 2008
Dear Mr Nader,
I am an undergraduate at The New School in New York. I’m old enough to remember the reasons why my mother voted for you in 2000 and voted for you myself in 2004, but realized that by the time the 2008 elections came about, although I have been keeping up on the elections, I didn’t know much about your race.
On Election Day I interviewed 100 people at six different voting booths, all over Manhattan, to see what NYC’s educated elite knew about the election alternatives. I asked them questions just as they left from voting. Ten thought you might have been on the list. Three of those knew what party you were standing for. One had voted for you, but his vote was a protest vote against McCain and Obama. I did not meet a single person who could tell me something positive about you, even though (almost) everyone I know shares your beliefs.
I am currently writing an article about my findings. Several of my professors think the topic and research are publishable in one of New York’s newspapers (and although I don’t like to think of nepotism, I do have a friend at the New York Times), but it is missing one vital thing; a few comments from you.
Please, if you can spare the time, could you agree to answer a few brief, emailed questions on the run up to the elections this time around, President-Elect Obama (how his campaign was financed, whether “change” and “hope” should be on everybody’s lips, and whether you will be standing in 2012? I would also like to know when you will next be in New York, in case you can schedule a longer interview, or when I can hear you speak.
Thank you very much for your time, and on a more personal level, as a journalist/novelist who finds the endless deleting of words to make a publishable draft emotionally draining, I cannot imagine what it is that drives you to continue fighting for justice. Perhaps to increase your next campaign’s financing you could lease time inside your head at $500 a minute, so people like me could see dedication and enthusiasm as you do.
Nicolas Broad
