Poll shows Nader at 6%, with Bush/ Kerry tied

In the first poll since John Kerry locked up the Democratic nomination, Kerry and President Bush are tied while independent Ralph Nader has captured enough support to affect the outcome, validating Democrats’ fears.

It’s a long way to November, so predictions are a bit silly at this point. It occurs to me that if the Dems want that 6% then they can jolly well tilt to the left and grab it. Or maybe Nader, who has hinted he might throw support to the Dems if it was crunch-time, will ask for something in return, something public, like a high level governmental posts for environmentalists, that sort of thing. However Nader has said he expects the Democrat to win and the race not to be close.

Nader can take the heat, he’s been doing it for 40 years against overwhelming opposition. I’m not sure the Green Party and their candidate, whoever that will be - probably David Cobb - will be able to withstand the sustained withering attacks they will face in the coming months. 

Cobb favors a “safe states” strategy which means he won’t run in swing states, in effect ceding votes to the Democrats. Thus, he gives away any bargaining chips Greens might have with the Dems should crunch time happen and the Dems need a Green endorsement. You bet they might deal then, but with ”safe states”, they don’t have to deal, because Cobb early on will have already given them everything they want. Which, in a word, is “dumb”.

There’s little internal agreement among Greens about what they should do in 2004, and this this lack of unity will not help in their coming presidential campaign.

As for Nader, if the Dems want that 6%, I suggest they appeal to those voters, not attack them. 

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Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come

Gay marriages continue in Portland Oregon, two cities in New York, and, of course, San Francisco

Black legislators stall anti gay marriage amendment in Georgia

Madison Wisconsin City Council calls ban on gay marriage ‘discrimination’

Wait, there’s more!

A city council member in Oakland, Calif., and an administrator in Washington, D.C., are now advocating that marriage licenses be issued to same-sex couples in those cities.

The mayors of Chicago, Salt Lake City (!), Minneapolis, Ithaca and Plattsburgh, N.Y., have also spoken up for same-sex marriage rights.

Let’s not forget the match for this fire was lit in Vermont and ignited in Massachusetts - both are in New England where it is generally assumed a person’s sex life (and religion) is their own affair.

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New DVD on Iraq by Robert Greenwald

From Richard Metzer’s Disinformation website:

Uncovered: The whole truth about the Iraq War, a DVD produced and directed by Robert Greenwald.

The most controversial documentary since Bowling for Columbine! This controversial and arresting film offers an in-depth look at the actual arguments, speeches and spin given by President Bush and his senior advisors before, during, and after the Iraq invasion.

Watch as they rely on rhetoric in lieu of hard evidence to justify a war.

Listen to their justifications change to accommodate certain inconvenient and very relevant facts (such as the continued inability to find Iraqi weapons of mass destruction).

Go behind the walls of government, as CIA, Pentagon, and foreign service experts speak out, many for the first time, detailing the lies, misstatements, and exaggerations that served as the reasons to fight a “preemptive” war that wasn’t necessary.

Only $9.95! Available 3/30.

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Goggle is wobbling

From respected eWeek columnist Brian Livingston:

Google.com is such a sacred cow in the search business that I hate to be anything other than worshipful. But it’s beginning to appear that Google’s results pages have developed a problem with relevance, based on my experiences and those of my readers.

I’m a website developer. Just lately, I’ve noticed web referrer logs across multiple websites show Google is slipping. Just a few weeks ago Google had a 65-70% share of search engine referrals. This is now down to 60% which, while still massive, is a noticeable drop for what until now has been a relentless upwards climb.

Yahoo and MSN have new or redesigned search engines and are most definitely going Google-hunting. Yahoo’s new search engine is at search.yahoo.com. It is powered by the massive Inktomi search engine (who they own) as well as by their own data. Yahoo pay-per-click ads are now via Overture, not Google. In the search engine world, these moves by Yahoo are the equivalent of a neutron bomb.

MSN has a beta search engine at beta.search.msn.com. Lest anyone need to be reminded, never ever count Microsoft out of anything, even if they appear to have arrived too late to the game to matter.

I’m finding the the Yahoo search engine to be quite smart, with a clean interface and excellent results. You can do specific searches for news, images, products, maps, Yellow Pages, people, as well as search the web.
 
Let the search engine wars begin!

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