My running email exchange with a Naderite friend....

She wrote, "I find myself in good company. Both Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky are voting for Nader."

I replied:

More later, but in meantime this:

NOAM CHOMSKY
“…there are differences (between Kerry and Bush). In a system of immense power, small differences can translate into large outcomes." - professor, author

JIM HIGHTOWER
"But all of that aside, now we face the reality of an Administration that is absolutely nutty. There's that old country song, "It felt so good when it stopped hurting." So we've got to stop the pain. But in doing so, we should not fool ourselves that we have gained some progressive victory. What we will have done is to get us back to a ground level where we can build again for a progressive victory that is several years down the road."
- November, 2003

MICHAEL PARENTI
"These guys (Bush administration) are playing for keeps. They're breaking every rule in the book. They carry out role call votes where they'll hold a vote open for 15 hours to shift it over to their way. They're redoing census and gerrymandering in states at any time they want. They're stealing elections. So, we're really facing a...very dangerous enemy. And I think Ralph's presence...is not what we need right now."
- Democracy Now! February 23, 2004


Finally, I'm sorry to say that when you say you're in good company with Chomsky & Zinn, you didn't dig enough to find out some revealing facts re nuances to their intentions. If you did, you'd find out they would be very sympathetic to MY cause. This:

But in response to an email query from this reporter, Chomsky wrote,
“Voting for Nader in a safe state is fine. That's what I'll do. I don't see how anyone could read what I wrote and think otherwise, just from the elementary logic of it. Voting for Nader in a safe state is not a vote for Bush. The point I made had to do with (effectively) voting for Bush.”

Chomsky lives in Mass. and he makes it absolutely clear that the ONLY reason he's voting Nader is because of the 50 states, Mass. is an absolute mortal lock for Kerry! That's a huge difference than how you posed it, as if he was voting for Nader with no qualifications.

And now, on to Zinn (another Mass. resident):

In another email exchange, Howard Zinn stated, “I will vote for Nader because Mass. is a safe state. And voters in ‘safe states’ should not vote for Kerry.” He also notes, “I don't have faith in Kerry changing, but with Kerry there is a possibility that a powerful social movement might change him. With Bush, no chance.”

I rest my case.