Ralph Nader is in the - NOT RUNNING / OUT OF THE RACE: category but who knows...
Famed consumer advocate, liberal activist and Harvard-educated attorney Ralph Nader is likely to make a fourth Presidential run in 2004 -- especially as he launched his 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee (linked above) in December 2003. However, he informed Green Party leaders two weeks later that he would not seek the Green nomination in 2004. Instead, said he was considering running as an Independent (if he runs at all). For those who are counting, this is run #4: he ran as a write-in candidate in the 1992 NH Democratic primary, and was the Green nominee for President in 1996 and 2000. Spending just over $5,000 (a self-imposed limit), the curmudgeonly Nader was on the ballot in 22 states and carried over 700,000 votes (4th place - 0.8%) in 1996. In 2000, Nader raised millions of dollars, mobilized leftist activists and grabbed national headlines with his anti-corporate campaign message. Nader ignored pleas from liberal Democrats that he abandon the race because he was siphoning essential votes away from Al Gore's campaign -- answering that Gore was not substantially different than Bush, and that his own campaign was about building a permanent third party. In the end, Nader was on the ballot in 44 states and finished third with 2,878,000 votes (2.7%) -- seemingly depriving Gore of wins in some key states (conservative Reform Party nominee Pat Buchanan, but contrast, intentionally declined to campaign in any states that were close so as to not hurt Bush's chances in those key states). More significantly, Nader missed the important 5% mark for the national vote, meaning that the party will still be ineligible for federal matching funds in 2004. As for the after-effects of 2000, Nader still maintains he did not cause Gore to lose because he believes most of his own voters were people who not have bothered to vote at all but for his candidacy -- although he is clearly still upset that many Democrats who previously donated to his various liberal public interest groups cut off their donations in retaliation for Nader's 2000 campaign. Nader extended an olive branch -- of sorts to the Dems -- in a 2003 news interview: If the Dems agree not to go negative on his Presidential campaign (so he has a shot at hitting the important 5% mark), Nader promises to encourage all the voters who show up to vote for him to also vote for Dems for Congress and all the other down-ballot offices to help them recapture majority status in those legislative bodies. Unlike most of the other Green candidates, Nader is not a registered member of the party -- he's a registered independent. Nader, who will be 70 in 2004, is a lifelong bachelor, a former Army reservist, and a multi-millionaire (through investments). As in 2000, Nader vows that his latest campaign will again "emphasize the problems of, and remedies for, the excessive concentration of corporate power and wealth in our country, by highlighting the important tools of democracy needed for the American people as voters/citizens, workers, consumers, taxpayers, and small savers/investors." Nader was the heavy favorite to win the 2004 Green nomination -- until he withdrew from that contest. By forgoing the Green option in favor of an Independent run, Nader will have to secure his own ballot status -- as he cannot use any of the spots of helped the Greens qualify for through his last run.
* He is such a hypocrite though...
Nader wraps himself in the mantle of "public interest" with a personally ascetic style and a focus on structural or "apple pie" issues -- consumer safety, corporate accountability, "citizen power" -- rather than traditional partisan issues. He opposes not conservatives, but arrogant corporate leaders who amass money through public tax breaks, deny any democratic input or inquiry, and viciously attack anyone who challenges them. It's a brilliant strategy.
Unfortunately, Nader has become exactly what he attacks. His organizations allow no public input, intimidate foes and journalists, bust unions, hide almost all details of their finances (to the point of breaking laws), and have amassed millions of dollars - all under Nader's direct and autocratic control. Meanwhile, Ralph has gotten rich off of investments in stock; in other words, by owning and profiting off the very corporations he is attacking.
----------Hypocrite Sources------------
"Me & Ralph: Is Nader Unsafe for America?", David Sanford (New Republic Books) 1976, p19-20
"Abuse of Trust: A Report on Ralph Nader's Network", Dan Burt, (Chicago: Regnery Gateway) 1982 |
