Ralph Nader for President

Ralph Nader, 73, announced that he will run for President......just as he did in 2000 and 2004. He blamed both the Democrats and the Republicans for a prolonged Iraq war and a shaky economy. He blamed the Bush administration for tax policies that left lower- and middle-class people in debt.

"You take that framework of people feeling locked out, shut out, marginalized and disrespected," he said. "You go from Iraq, to Palestine to Israel, from Enron to Wall Street, from Katrina to the bumbling of the Bush administration, to the complicity of the Democrats in not stopping him on the war, stopping him on the tax cuts."

"In that context, I have decided to run for president," Nader told NBC's "Meet the Press."

Railing against corporate lobbyists and special interests, Nader vowed to accept only individual donations. "We have to shift the power from the few to the many." Nader said. Reactions among the current candidates to Nader's announcement were varied.

Barack Obama:

"In many ways he is a heroic figure and I don't mean to diminish him. But I do think there is a sense now that if somebody is not hewing to the Ralph Nader agenda, then you must be lacking in some way," Obama said.

Hillary Clinton:

"Obviously, it's not helpful to whomever our Democratic nominee is. But it's a free country," she told reporters as she flew to Rhode Island for campaign events.

Mike Huckabee noting that Nader generally pulls votes away from the Democrats said:

"So naturally, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race," the former Arkansas governor said on CNN.

In the 2000 election, Ralf Nader was blamed for Al Gore's defeat at the hands of George Bush.
He denied the charge saying that it was the Democrat's fault and not his for losing the race. He added however that this time he thought that there was no way he could affect the race because the electorate would not vote for a pro-war John McCain.

"If the Democrats can't landslide the Republicans this year, they ought to just wrap up, close down, emerge in a different form," Nader said.

As personal note, I just wonder what Ralph Nader hopes to accomplish by joining the Presidential Race. The Republican Mike Huckabee has a better chance at becoming President than Ralph Nader. So why waste people's time and money on a bid that is doomed to failure?

Comments

[johnofsilence]

Open the debates! First one is Friday!

I’m not a bot, I know you care about the democracy of our government, so we need to get this done. There are 6 Presidential candidates this year all of which are qualified and capable of winning, so why are there only 2 people on the debate! Bigotry, two party bias! Let’s flood the email inbox and the phone lines with: Open the Debates.

It takes 5 mins. Please help me make a difference . Below is a script but please feel free to appropriately modify it to support your candidate .

Step one:

Call Barack Obama at 866-675-2008.
Hit 6 to speak with a campaign volunteer.
Once connected, politely deliver the following message:

Hi, my name is …

I was wondering if Senator Obama, being a believer in equal opportunity and equal rights, could insist that Ralph Nader and other ballot qualified third party candidates be included in the upcoming Presidential debates?
After all, Nader is on 45 state ballots.
And he’s polling well nationwide. And he could help Senator Obama challenge the corporate Republicans.
True, Ralph would critique Senator Obama for his corporate ties also. But isn’t that what democracy is about? Could you please leave this message for the campaign manager? Thank you.

Step two:

E-mail Janet Brown jb@debates.org, the executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Here’s a sample e-mail:

Dear Janet Brown:

Greetings. You must be busy. Preparing for the first Presidential debate this Friday. So, I won’t take much of your time. Just wanted to let you know that the American people were not born yesterday. We know the deal. Take that little private corporation that you run. Controlled by the two corporate parties. And funded by big business. For the purpose of excluding independent minded candidates. Friday, two Wall Street candidates are scheduled to be in the ring. Barack Obama and John McCain. The one candidate who represents the American people, Main Street, if you will, will be on the outside looking in. So, here’s a simple request. Drop your exclusionary restrictions. And let Ralph Nader into the debates.
It will be good for your conscience. Good for the American people. (I believe it was The League of Women Voters that called your corporatized debates “campaign-trail charades devoid of substance, spontaneity, and honest answers to tough questions.”) And good for democracy. Let the American people have a real debate for once. Main Street vs. Wall Street.

Thank you.

Signed
your name.