The myth of the Goblin Ralph Nader: "It’s a lie, and if you start pulling at it, the careful defensive positioning of the Democratic party begins to unravel."

In the 2000 general election, Nader exceeded 5% of the vote in 10 states and the District of Columbia. The average of these 11 percentages is 6.3%, slightly less than I tallied running for mayor of New Albany last year.

I "spoiled" nothing -- and Gore lost because he ran a purely dreadful, "prevent" campaign.

The Nader Myth, by Hal Walker (Medium)

The sore winner writing of the centrist Democrats continues, and in that spirit reliable asshole Jonathan Chait has a piece in New York Magazine retelling once again the liberals’ favorite faerie tale, the story of how the Goblin Ralph Nader brought on the dark times of George W. Bush by leading gullible voters astray. It is a faerie tale in the old sense, meant to caution youngsters to listen to their elders and not wander into the dark woods ...

Because:

... Nader is not hated because he swung an election. Nader is hated for the reason that Sanders is hated: because he offers a vision of politics that is solidly to the left of the Democrats. It’s not a threat to their electability, it’s a threat to a their legitimacy.

The Democrats stand for three things: neoliberal reform in international trade, a gradualist and defensive approach to civil liberties, and not being Republicans. They try not to advertise the first stance because it is wildly unpopular with their progressive base. They try to make the second stance seem more bold than it is, as if waiting to support marriage equality until the polls looked safe (Obama’s “evolving position”) were somehow brave. It is the third position, opposition to Republicans, that they base their appeal to voters on. They’re not the bad guys ...

And in reality:

... The left are a true threat to the boring centrism that has completely failed working America. And so Nader must remain always the bogeyman, the sinister liar who lead the children into the wolf’s den at the dawn of our grim political era. It’s a lie, and if you start pulling at it, the careful defensive positioning of the Democratic party begins to unravel. There is a whole world of political possibility to their left, and they work harder to keep you away from it than they do at anything else.