Nader's Latest Nadir, Part 2

It seems Ralph Nader really wants to turn the Occupy Together movement into "Primary Obama!" but as usual, he's having trouble with that whole Step Two Question Mark thing and has taken to kicking around the house in his slippers.

It's not exactly clear what direction the Occupy movement will take, or what course Nader himself will take.

In September, he joined forces with Cornell West, a Princeton University professor and progressive agitator, in a public letter to distinguished Americans calling on them to step forward and challenge President Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.

However, he told McClatchy that the effort was now effectively dead, despite fielding what he said was a "pretty good slate" of candidates, because the New Hampshire primary filing deadline was moved up to Oct. 28.

Nader, who looks remarkably the same as he did when he first became a public figure and still lives on $30,000 a year, could possibly be cajoled into another run, say longtime associates. But for now he's doing what he's always done — support citizen agitation and hawk a book.

This month his 16th book, "Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism," will be released.

"He's looking for the strategic and tactical advantage in the current situation," said Steven Schier, professor of political science at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. "This should be grist for his mill. You'd think he'd capture some of the energy of that movement for his causes."

You'd think that.  Of course, maybe it's not working because people still remember the 2000 election and what that meant to the country, or maybe they realize Nader's just trying to sell books, or hanging out with fellow grifter Cornell West, or that the idea of primarying an incumbent Democrat in the White House is a sure way to hand the country over to the GOP a year from now.

And it's not Nader's ideas I have a problem with.  I'd love to see a completely balanced public financing system for candidates, free of corporate influence and lobbying.  I also know that handing over the country to the GOP isn't the way to get that, either...especially in the name of self-aggrandizement.