Quick aside: the title was my idea. And that photo makes me look really fat. Thanks, Joe. But on to the issues at hand:

I like Ralph Nader. A lot. I voted for him in 2000 with a clear conscience. I have seen An Unreasonable Man. I’ve heard him speak at town halls. I admire his persistence to the causes of consumer safety and social justice, and really, everyone should. The man is a civic treasure.

Which is why it has been so painful to watch him this past week.

First off, let’s go to his final campaign press conference, where, as some sort of protest against the media’s coverage of his campaign, he decides to give only one-word answers to questions. I’m sure he thought it made some sort of grand statement, but instead it came off as childish and quite frankly pathetic.

Then let’s go to his final interview on Fox News, where in front of the largest audience he’s had this entire election season with the exceptions of Meet The Press and Real Time with Bill Maher, he self-immolates:

Yes, I know that he didn’t actually call Obama an Uncle Tom, and his points are valid, but he should really know better than to use that term at all when referring to a black man. Amazingly, Shep Smith gives him a chance to take it back and he refuses! At the end of it, poor Shep looks like he wants to cry.

Nader’s greatest strength—his tone-deafness—is also his greatest weakness. Does he really believe the things he said and did this past week endear him to a larger group of people? Does he really believe he’ll gain supporters this way? Blog after blog after blog after blog, writers and commenters alike share the same sentiment: we loved Ralph, but he is pissing his legacy away.

I sincerely hope this is the last time he runs, for his sake.