Fuggedaboutit...

One reason that I've paid relatively little attention to polling, and especially national polling, in the Presidential race so far is that I've been in general agreement with Chris Bowers' contention that "...any national poll that includes Nader should not be taken seriously." Since most polls have insisted on treating the Nader campaign as though it were somehow more serious than other third party efforts, despite his trouble getting on the ballot in so many places, even with organized Republican assistance and a variety of illegal and unethical approaches, they've been suspect in my view.

Bowers takes jacks his judgement up a notch at MyDD, and once again I can't help but agree. In a post titled National Trial Heats Including Nader Now Utterly Preposterous, he points out that

Ralph Nader is now officially off the ballot in thirteen states: AZ, CA, GA, ID, IN, IL, MD, MI, MO, OK, NC, SC and TX. While thirteen states may not seem like a lot, these states tend to be rather large, and actually make up 42.8% of the population of the entire United States. These thirteen states gave Nader 32.9% of his vote in 2000. When all is said and done, the former number will probably pass 60%, and the latter will probably pass 50%.

Ralph Nader may be a marginal element in a handful of state-level races, but his continued inclusion in the national polling, or the national media, for that matter, is indeed preposterous. He's not a national candidate. Compared to Nader, the Greens and Libertarians are mainstream this year, and when's the last time you saw them included in a poll?