Let Nader Debate!

[smoothmoniker]

I'm in. I'll take Nader for $100

and I'll take Bush in the popular vote, with a spread of 5 pts.

-sm

[Radar]

I'd take the bets if I thought you were serious and would actually pay. Badnarik will probably have more than double Nader's votes, but will definately have more votes even if he doesn't make double.

[warch]

Sunday, on the way to the grocery store, I was stopped at a light next to our local Libertarian office. Four earnest men were talking to each other on the street corner. I thought of y'all. Wheels are in motion....wheels are in motion.

On the local liberal news front....Last night at local DNC concert fundraiser with local musicians held at First Ave, the Mpls Mayor RT Rybak, made rousing remarks supporting Kerry/Edwards to the packed crowd then stage dove and surfed to the back of the room.

[jaguar]

I'll put up 100 and trust me, I can and will pay.

[Happy Monkey]

Wow. Radar could pick up a quick $300!

[Radar]

I only see $200. Hmmm one must be a person on my iggy list.

I'd be willing to take these bets if people were serious and the bet is who gets the most total votes nationally. I say Badnarik will easily beat Nader.

[Undertoad]

Would you trust a third-party arbitrator to judge the winner and disperse the held money? I'm thinking of Ken Krawchuk, LP Vice-Presidential candidate in 2000. Ken is a friend of mine but is also a True Believer, a Hardass Constitutionalist (hell, he's written some of the hardest-ass material on the topic). In fact his consulting business was called "Amendment 16" and I think he owns 1-800-FUCK-TAX. (DUCK-TAX, for the meeker.)

I'm sure Kenny would handle the transaction, and to be utterly fair about it we could toss in $5 for each wager to him, to make it more serious. Of course the only thing he is really endangering is his good name but a few extra bucks may motivate him to take it seriously.

[Radar]

I was thinking more along the lines of lumberjim. He's a resident of the board and pretty unbiased. I trust his word too since he actually sent me a video when he promised he would.

We could all paypal him $100 and he could paypal it to the winner.

[Undertoad]

I would definitely agree to LJ as arbiter. He's totally responsible and fair and a good guy and closet small-l l'tarian. The only down side is that he totally doesn't care about his reputation, but if he tried to steal our money jinx would probably shame him into giving it back.

Paypal takes a tad for itself doesn't it?

[jaguar]

ohhhh it's serious! I might have to look at the nunbers and do a little more research now.

[Radar]

Paypal doesn't take any unless you're accepting credit card payments. You can do a straight transfer from your bank account without being charged.

[jaguar]

I keep my accounts and credit cards seperate but I'll take a CC hit without complaint.

[Undertoad]

Now all we need is LJ to show up and agree to it.

[Radar]

http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/7/emw142186.htm


Preliminary polling data indicates Badnarik has the support to remove Bush from office


Three different polls were recently conducted showing that Libertarian presidential candidate Michael Badnarik is draining Republican votes in key battleground states.

(PRWEB) July 18, 2004 -- With the first round of major polling completed since Michael Badnarik won the Libertarian nomination to run for President, multiple results show him in a better starting position than previous Libertarian presidential campaigns (1).

Recent Zogby(2), Mason-Dixon(3) and Humphrey Institute (4) data indicate that Badnarik is consistently polling around one percent, as compared with Bush, Kerry, and Nader.

According to John Zogby, one percent may not sound like a lot, but with 16 to 20 states considered “battlegrounds” that are too close too call, this slim margin could determine the outcome of the contest.

A statement released by Larry Jacobs of the Humphrey Institute indicates, “Although Nader enjoys far more press coverage, the Libertarian is still draining Republican votes from the President – a potentially dangerous pattern if it were to continue or expand.”

Jacobs, who will be hosting a panel discussion (5) analyzing the third-party threat at the National Press Club on Wednesday, July 21, was recently quoted by CBS News (6) as saying, “The Libertarians will impact Republicans more than Nader will impact Democrats.”

“As Jacobs suggested, publicity should have a profound effect in the polls this year. We have a strong start in this process, such as consistently beating Nader with respect to internet traffic (7) for the last two months,” responded Badnarik spokesperson Stephen Gordon.

In a recent WorldNetDaily interview (8), Badnarik explained his three-part plan for getting this message out: "Television, television and television."

Former political opponent and Hollywood icon Aaron Russo (producer of "Trading Places" and "The Rose") is producing his commercials. They will be running on prime time, and "not at 2 a.m. on the Home Shopping Network," Badnarik said, highlighting a key difference in strategy from previous Libertarian campaigns.

Expanding Badnarik’s comment, Gordon added, “Also, this election cycle is somewhat unique with respect to Libertarian presidential politics. Having the only candidate calling for a complete withdrawal from Iraq - without replacing American troops for American troops wearing a UN patch - places us at a considerable advantage. Our first television commercial, which has just completed production, strongly addresses this issue.”

Representatives from the Libertarian Party and Gordon intend to be present at the panel discussion in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday.

[jaguar]

Nadar should poll around 2-3%, compared to 1% for Badnarik but I'm having trouble finding out the populations of different states, what percentage votes etcetc to do all the maths properly to work out whether this is worth it or not.