Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s, Ralph Nader was considered a hero. The mere mention of his name generated a profound belief that the dedication and strength of an individual could go up against the powerful and change the world for the better. Known as a consumer advocate, Nader harshly criticized the American auto industry for its unsafe products, leading to the US government’s enactment of significant new safety standards for all automobiles sold in the US. Following these pioneering efforts, Nader began to call for stricter standards in several other American industries. His single-minded endeavors subsequently brought radically improved standards in meat and poultry processing and coal mine safety, as well as restrictions on radiation emissions from TV’s, to give but a few examples. In the minds of the still-young Baby Boomers, this man inspired a belief in the ultimate triumph of right over power and, consequently, a belief in a hopeful future.
Three decades later, the dramatic and mind-numbing 2000 election brought George Bush to the White House by a razor-thin majority in Florida. Many have blamed the once-heralded Nader, who ran on the third party Green ticket and siphoned off votes from Al Gore, for enabling the rise of the most radical, right-wing, pro-industry, anti-populist government in American history. Despite Nader’s dubious claims that there was no difference between the centrist Democrat Al Gore and the radical plutocrat George Bush, it is more than obvious that the country and the world would be far different today had Al Gore taken his rightful seat in the White House. As for Ralph Nader, that idealistic man who once stood up bravely for the people against the powerful, he has become known in the 21st Century as the Spoiler who enabled the insatiable corporatocracy and its ally the Republican Party to enormously increase their stranglehold on American life and politics.
And now, in the spring of 2004, another election is upon us. And, as predictable as next winter’s snow, Ralph Nader is again running for president, blinded by the delusion that voters who support him will be withholding their support from George Bush. Needless to say, Democrats, as well as many Green Party supporters, are horrified. The nightmarish fear of George Bush winning yet another four years is almost paralyzing. Images of a devastated and debt-ridden banana republic lace the panic attacks of party stalwarts. The biggest, tentative hope is that Nader will wake up out of his pipedream and quit the race.
A look at Nader’s natal chart shows a very tight T square made up of Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto, that also has each of these planets connected to the Sun by either a semisquare or a sesquiquadrate. Thus, the three planets and the Sun always act in concert and are activated simultaneously by transits and progressions. The configuration itself suggests a person whose goals (Sun) are far-reaching and potentially revolutionary in potency and scope. It also implies arrogance and touch of brilliance.
The possibility for trouble comes with the natal Neptune opposition to the Sun. Neptune adds a tremendous idealism to this planetary picture, but also brings with it the potential for obscuring the boundaries between reality and illusion. Basically, any aspect of transiting Neptune to this chart or a triggering of the Sun/Neptune opposition will set off this latent tendency to lose perspective and go off into a grandiose fantasy motif.
From August to mid-November 2000, Jupiter squared Nader’s natal Neptune and Sun, as well as setting off the Jupiter/Uranus/Pluto T square by the minor hard aspects of semsiquare and sesquiquadrate. Thus, the desire to achieve revolutionary goals (Pluto/Uranus) and an inflated sense of power (Jupiter/Pluto) were infused with the grandiosity and self-deception of Neptune.
In the current election cycle, there are two Neptune aspects of consequence, one which weakens considerably after June 2004 and the other which weakens sometime in July 2004. Transiting Neptune is currently opposite Nader’s natal Moon and is stationary there from March through June 2004. This is compounded by converse progressed Neptune conjunct converse progressed Midheaven, which peaks sometime in July. It is unlikely that Nader will be amenable to reason before late July at the earliest. Until then, he will be on a self-deceptive quest that inflates and distorts his impact on the presidential campaign.
There are also some very significant triggers to the Jupiter/Uranus/Pluto T square that go though mid-August, which will add to Nader’s sense of power and his desire for a role in transformative change. His sense of what is right and what is true will be very rigid through that time. Converse progressed Mars is currently opposite natal Pluto and will peak by late July. This very aggressive, supercharged energy will be intensified when converse progressed Moon joins converse progressed Mars from July 8 through August 8, 2004. The converse Moon square natal Jupiter overlaps this from July 14 through August 14. These aspects suggest that this period from July though mid-August will see Nader waxing in his sense of his own power and being very aggressive in pursuing his goals.
But by mid-August 2004, Neptune, the Deceiver, will have effectively weakened its grasp on Nader’s distorted perceptions just as some much-needed Saturnian practicality enters the picture. From mid-August through mid-September, Saturn will in rapid succession square Jupiter, oppose Pluto, sesquiquadrate the Sun, and square Uranus. There is a strong possibility that these four weeks will see a bracing splash of cold water thrown over Nader’s pretensions. It may be that during this period or shortly thereafter, he will drop out of the race and accept the reality of his potentially disastrous impact on the presidential race. There is, of course, no guarantee that this will occur, but it is safe to say that the hugely inflated ego energy and the self-delusion that are very much impacting Nader’s current awareness will be far weaker from mid-August through November 2004. And we can hope that he may take the painful step that liberates his tiny band of supporters from making another historical blunder of massive proportion.