Ralph Nader on Principles & Values 2004 Reform nominee; 2000 Green Candidate for President

Sub-sections under Principles & Values:
• Green Party
• Spoiler Issue
• Other issues under Principles & Values

Republicans help get Nader on state ballots

In Oregon, another swing state, Republicans enlisted the Oregon Family Council and the Citizens for a Sound Economy to recruit rightwingers to sign Nader's ballot petition. The CSE's phone script asking Republicans to put Nader on the ballot explained the need to "pull some very crucial votes from John Kerry." Nader's Oregon coordinator said he saw nothing wrong with rightwing help: "It's a free country. People do things in their own interest."

Ad: Nader helped by Republican donors

ANALYSIS: TheNaderFactor.com-an anti-Nader groupÿstaffed by former Dean, Clark, and Gephardt campaigners-released a radio ad saying Nader is getting help from Republicans in hopes of stripping votes away from Kerry. The ad's use of the terms "right wing" and "extremist" are debatable. But it is well documented that some Republican-leaning groups have worked for Nader, and that a few wealthy Republican donors have given money to the Nader campaign.

Don't know right-wing groups helping in my campaign

NADER: What you said about that group was a legitimate smear. Do you know what a legitimate smear is, Howard? It's a smear premeditated and knowing. We don't even know this group. Don't try to tar us with this.

Polls can be wrong; we're building beyond this election

Starts 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee

Decision on run to be based on Kucinich & Dean's standing

Nader said his decision would depend, in some measure, on the fortunes of two of the nine current Democratic contenders whose politics would appear to resemble most closely his own - Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean. Nader said growing support for Kucinich, one of the most liberal members of Congress, would give him "less reason to go into the election," adding: "Not, no. Just less."

As for Dean, Nader says he likes what the former governor says in speeches but fears that he will ultimately move toward the center to broaden his appeal. Nader also had a kind word for Senator John Edwards for opposing caps on damages in liability cases, but he did not indicate whether Edwards would influence his decision.

In 2004, would do "just about everything" differently

"Priceless" ad caused lawsuit but got priceless attention

The 30-second spot caught the attention of MasterCard CEO Robert Selander, who called Nader directly while vacationing in the tropics. Back came MasterCard with a lawsuit, claiming trademark and copyright infringement. The company demanded $15 million in damages. The Nader campaign pulled the ad, pending the outcome of the lawsuit. But it was remarkable how much mileage Nader got out of a single ad. Countless articles about the debacle appeared. Nader campaign headquarters received hundreds of cut-up MasterCards.

Nader "stood" for president in 1996 (didn't "run")

Nader received 580,627 votes in 1996, good for 0.6% of the electorate. He came in fourth behind Reform Party candidate Ross Perot (8.5%) and just ahead of Harry Browne of the Libertarian Party (0.5%). Considering that Nader had merely "stood" for president, it was an impressive outcome. He began to wonder what would happen if he ever ran in earnest. So, too, did the Green Party. The stage was set for 2000.

Political systems benefit from outside competition

Dems will lose until they become more progressive

Bush intensifies contradictions and galvanizes progressives

Ran because unable to get hearing with president or Congress

As for the Clinton-era Congress, Nader found that he was a pariah, even among the most liberal members. In 1997 Nader was invited to speak before the House Progressive Caucus, but only 5 of the 50 caucus members even bothered to show up.

From Nader's standpoint. the icy reception in Washington was proof of a serious drift among Democrats. They had pilfered the Republican agenda and called it their own--a process he termed "protective imitation."

The doors were shut, tighter than ever. As he did during the Reagan years, Nader went to the grassroots, but there were limits to what could be accomplished. Nader wanted to have a say on weighty national issues. But more than ever before, he found it hard to get any political traction.

Suffers from Bell's Palsy

In Nader's case, Bell's Palsy initially froze the left side of his face, although that gradually abated. But he had continued difficulty controlling the muscles on that side. His left eyelid also began to droop. For some, Bell's Palsy lasts only a few weeks, but in Nader's case it would linger. He took to wearing dark sunglasses and began to joke with audiences that he could no longer be accused of talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Experience to run government comes from suing most agencies

NADER: ‘Well, I’ve been a full-time citizen for 40 years. I think the auto industry knows what I can do in terms of safer cars. We’re almost experts at how to make government and corporations accountable.“

Q: Do you have the experience to run the vast agencies of the US government?

NADER: I don’t know anybody who has sued more of them. I don’t know anybody who has participated for over three decades in the process.

Focus on broader distribution of power

Spoiled political system spawns spoiled candidates

Uses personal income as societal change agent

Opposes concentration of power & monied interests

Counter “democracy gap”: raise expectations in politics

The “democracy gap” in our politics and elections spells a deep sense of powerlessness by people who drop out, do not vote or listlessly vote for the “least-worst” every four years. A few illustrative questions can begin to raise our expectations and suggest what can be lost when the few and powerful hijack our democracy:
• Why can’t the wealthiest nation in the world abolish the chronic poverty of millions of working Americans?
• Are we reversing the disinvestment in our distressed inner cities and rural areas?
• Are we getting the best out of known ways to spread renewable, efficient energy, to save consumers money and to head off global warming?
• Can we extend overseas the best examples of our country’s democratic processes & achievements instead of annually using billions in tax dollars to subsidize corporate munitions exports?
• Can we counter the coarse and brazen commercial culture?
• Can we plan ahead as a society so we know our priorities and where we wish to go?

New populism: citizen participation over commercialism

Expand agenda to voter, worker, consumer, shareholder

A: I’ve heard from emissaries from the Democrats, from some members of Congress, and their question is always, why are you doing this? And I’ve given them the answer:

This is a broad political effort to enlist young people, broaden the agenda, and focus relentlessly on expanding the tools of democracy -- for the five roles we play in our country: voter, worker, taxpayer, consumer and shareholder.

Struggle against commercialism based on priceless things

A: I think of little homilies by my parents. One day, I came home and my parents were in the back yard and my mother said, “How much is a dozen oranges?” I knew. “How much is a dozen eggs?” And I knew. Because my father had a restaurant, so I knew the prices. And then they said, “How much is that breeze that’s caressing our faces? What do you think that sun is worth right now? And you hear those birds? What’s the price of those birds?“ And they were trying to teach me that there are things that are priceless. You don’t always measure things by the dollar. And I remembered that as I embarked in my struggle against commercialism and the overwhelming spread of commercial dictates into universities, into government, even into religion, into areas far removed from traditional market place venues.

Sacrificed personal life because civic work is a joy

A: [Not having] sons and daughters was a sacrifice. It’s [a choice] I have to bear [because] I don’t believe in being an absentee father.

Q: When was the last time you had a whole day off?

A: Sometimes when I’m traveling I take a day off simply because there’s nothing to do. And I do take about a week off during the summer.

Q: What’s your idea of a good time?

A: Reading is a good time. Conversing with friends. Seeing new things and new experiences. When traveling, I like to go see plants and factories, like a meat processing plant. Or a coal mine.

Q: Your work schedule is what? 80 hours a week?

A: It’s pretty much all the time except eight hours to eat and sleep. But I enjoy it. The definition of work implies something you’d rather not be doing. [Civic work] is a joy. If more people would involve themselves in civic action, they’d discover an important formula for personal human happiness.

Power corrupts, unless it fears loss of power

A: Power that is not afraid of losing its power will inevitably corrupt. And that’s why a dictatorship is so dangerous, that’s why monopolies in the corporate area are so dangerous. Power is necessary, but power has to fear losing its power to be responsible in its exercise. I don’t like concentration of power. Whether it’s in Wall Street or whether it’s government ownership of the means of production which is the definition of Socialism.

Pushed consumer protection in “Nader’s Raiders”

Born to Lebanese immigrant parents in Connecticut, Nader is a Harvard-trained lawyer who has taken on a vast range of issues, ranging from an unsafe General Motors car, the Corvair, later withdrawn from the market, to banning smoking on airline flights. He was named by the LA Times as one of the 50 people who most influenced business this century.

He and his team of investigators, popularly dubbed “Nader’s Raiders,” have pushed for legislative change and raised public awareness. Nader works out of the Center for Responsive Law in Washington and lives nearby in a studio apartment. A bachelor, he does not own a television or car and has few interests outside his work.

Won't run as a Green-maybe as an independent

Green nominee, but declined rival Green Party USA

The Denver convention [which nominated Nader] was held by the group that coveted national elective office, known as the Association of State Green Parties. The rival faction-known as Green Party USA-remained focused on grassroots activism. To confuse matters, it held a convention anyway, in Chicago, where it endorsed Nader. The issues on its platform included abolition of the US Senate and 100% taxation of income above $100,000. Nader refused to accept the rival Green party's endorsement. But throughout his campaign, many voters and journalists were justifiably confused.

To clarify the record: Nader ran in 2000 as the candidate for the Association of State Green Parties. He did not support abolition of the Senate, nor did he adopt a number of other positions advocated by Green Party USA.

Waited 16 years; Dems no different than GOP about power

Nader said he was not impressed by pressure warning that he could hurt his reputation as well as his causes if he was seen as having helped elect Bush. “I waited in 84, 88, 92, 96,” he said bitterly. “It’s as if the Democrats are telling us, ‘Wait another four years, then ask our permission.’” Then he said the way the two parties cozied up to special interests and encouraged a concentration of power made all other distinctions meaningless. “I don’t care if they’re different on everything else,” he said.

Goal is 5% of vote, to qualify Greens as a recognized party

Tactical voting: if Gore leads your state by 9%, vote Nader

Attract new voters to build future party

NADER: In recent days I’ve been 7 percent, 6 percent, 17 percent in Alaska. We’re going to draw from a lot of young voters for the first time. We’re going to get millions of votes in November to build for the future a strong party.

Vote conscience rather than choosing between drab and dreary

One purpose of campaign is moving Democrats Left

The DemRep duopoly obstructs citizenship

Florida included some (less than 537) disenfranchised voters

Exit polls in Florida showed that about one-third of those who voted for Nader were in fact disenfranchised; otherwise he took votes from both Gore and Bush, by a margin of two to one. That means he siphoned off roughly forty thousand votes from Gore. Libertarian candidate Harry Browne, Howard Phillips of the Constitution Party, and John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party garnered 18,856, 4,280, and 2,287 votes respectively. Some of their voters were most certainly disenfranchised, but no doubt they each snatched a minimum of 538 votes from Gore. So why aren't they considered spoilers?

Dislikes "spoiler" label and "strategic voting"

Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins suggested that residents of safe states-where either Bush or Gore held a commanding lead-could afford to vote their "hearts." But in swing states, she urged people to vote their "brains." This came to be known as the "Ivins Rule." The Times editorial and Ivins Rule set the standard for the way the media would cover Nader's campaign.

Personally, Nader did not appreciate either approach. Certainly he did not relish being slapped with the "spoiler" tag. Neither did he approve of the Ivins Rule, with its suggestion that people vote strategically instead of "voting their conscience" as he frequently termed it.

"Nader's Raiders for Gore" Nader said Gore would win by 20%

Nader assured Sellers that the election was unlikely to be the nail-biter pundits were predicting. He said. "George Bush is so dumb, Gore will beat him by twenty points."

Sellers then registered a web site under the name "Nader's Raiders for Gore." The group pointed out that Nader's central claim-that the two parties were virtually identical- would not have withstood his own truth tests. Nader in response issued a simple statement: "There are always a few who lose their zest and will to fight for progressive ideas and settle for moderate conservatives like Al Gore."

Gore beat Gore -- look at TN, AR, and WV, not FL

Wants credit for a Democratic Senate in 2000 election

Nader less spoiler than Buchanan, in state-based analysis

There were 8 states in which no candidate received a majority of votes. In ME and NE, Gore won [by more than Buchanan’s vote], so those are moot. In FL and NH, Bush won, but by fewer votes than Nader received [i.e., Nader was the “spoiler” there].

In the remaining four states, IA, NM, OR, and WI, Buchanan’s vote total exceeded the difference between Gore and Bush. Combined, these four states account for 30 electoral votes, or one more than FL and NH combined. In other words, if Buchanan has dropped out and his supporters had switched to Bush, Bush would not have needed Florida to become president. Click here for state-by-state vote tallies.

Margin of votes is less than margin of error: Toss a coin

“It’s razor close, and the margin of error is bigger than the margin between them,” he said. “Whoever wins is going to have half the nation against them. It’s going to leave a bad taste in the American people’s mouths.“ So, Nader proposes that Gore and Bush settle the standoff with a coin toss.

He claimed to be following the Florida standoff ”only casually,“ saying he doesn’t much care who wins. ”They’re just two lookalike candidates from two lookalike parties that are looking more and more alike. Whoever the winner, he’ll just keep hijacking the American governmental system,“ he said.

Gore has only himself to blame for defeat and a bad campaign

Gore needed to run on more than not being George W. Bush

Gore has only himself to blame for defeat and a bad campaign

Nader-Trader: Swap Gore vote with friend in non-swing state

Their proposal: Ask pro-Nader voters in crucial swing states to vote for Gore in return for promises from pro-Gore voters in non-battleground states to vote for Nader. That way, there’s no net loss of votes for the Green Party, but Nader doesn’t draw all-important votes from Gore in the places where it really matters.

A website called nadertrader.org states: “Wouldn’t it be great if you could both vote for Nader AND against Bush? Now you can-become a Nader Trader. If you live in a swing state, contact a Gore-voting friend in a strongly Bush-leaning state and informally agree that your friend will vote for Nader, while you will vote for Gore.”