It seems to me that by chastising Ralph Nader in Wednesday's issue, Steve Boneck is employing a rather cheap tactic ("Nader, 'element of choice' muddy the waters of presidential race," Feb. 25). By stating that Nader can do little more than steal votes from the Democratic candidate, he is alleviating that candidate from responsibility for losing votes. You don't see John Kerry or John Edwards going on television politely asking Nader to leave this to the professionals. That's because they understand that every vote the Democratic candidate loses to Nader is one person who is not satisfied with the policies of the Democratic candidate. That the Democrats can't satisfy the more progressive voters is hardly the fault of Nader. It's absurd to expect minority parties to bow before the mighty two. That dooms them to forever be minority parties.