Ralph Nader announced his latest campaign for President today on “Meet the Press.” You can say what you want about him, but he’s the only person speaking out about the real foundation of most of our problems – money. Big corporations, interest groups, and rich people set the agenda for everything. They buy and sell Congress, and therefore control legislation and regulation. No one can run for public office without their support. And everyone is afraid to speak out in any way against the system that gives them this power.
Hillary has spent $100 million and it wasn’t enough. Obama is raising $40-50 million a month now! McCain may already be hopelessly behind in the money race.
Ralph pulls no punches, and nobody scares him. He’s a better debater than anyone else running; Tim Russert tried to nail him on costing Gore the 2000 election and Nader crushed the argument.
I don’t understand why more American’s aren’t angry about the buying and selling of our government. I though John Edwards would be a more effective salesman of Nader’s idea – and he was to a point – but we’re not mad enough yet.
Hillary has spent $100 million and it wasn’t enough. Obama is raising $40-50 million a month now! McCain may already be hopelessly behind in the money race.
Ralph pulls no punches, and nobody scares him. He’s a better debater than anyone else running; Tim Russert tried to nail him on costing Gore the 2000 election and Nader crushed the argument.
I don’t understand why more American’s aren’t angry about the buying and selling of our government. I though John Edwards would be a more effective salesman of Nader’s idea – and he was to a point – but we’re not mad enough yet.
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15 comments:
Me too. He was raised on vinegar and sour pickles but he hits the bulls eye with every arrow. He would probably throw the system into chaos but he knows where every body is buried and isn't afraid to post the map on the internet.
The fact that he can get up and tell it like it is happens to be one of the best things about America. The fact that he can never be elected and fulfill his mission is one of the worst things...
NO NO! He's an arrogant narcissist blinded by his desire to be president. He DID give us GWB. He will burn in hell for that. Go away Ralph. You have ruined whatever good you did in your life before you lost your marbles!!!
The Republicans and the Democrats are essentially two sides of the same coin. They both suck-up to big money and there isn’t a single testicle between the two of them. If either party nominated someone who would speak up, or who represented something more that marginal incrementalism, Nader would go away. And he did not cost Gore the 2000 election; he couldn’t carry either Tennessee or Arkansas, either of which would have tipped the election his way.
to d'Blank from Fenway who can't figure out how to sign in as guest:
you are so swallowing (ahem) Ralphie's line. I cannot believe he's doing this to us again.
I think it's an indisputable fact that without Nader in the race in 2000 Bush would not have been president.
That said, he ran in 2004 and had no impact whatsoever on anything. He will have even less of an impact this go around.
Everybody is right here. Nader correctly points out that money is the root of all political evil. This is hardly news. So now what?
His quadrenniel Quixotic quest (how's that for alliteration?) for the presidency seems less and less helpful each time he does it.
Well, the big announcement fell on deaf ears. No comment in any of the editorials and just a perfunctory mention by cable and broadcast news.
Is he right? Of course he is!!
But it's embedded in the DNA of Washington, and no one, even St. Obama, can turn the tide of big money.
I agree w/Birdman, his influence will be nil, this time. But he was one of several reasons why Gore lost in 2000.
Why doesn't he go back to his roots and work with the FTC in cleaning up the garbage China exports to the U.S. and stay out of politics!
Well, this is a lively debate. I love it. Allow me to fan the flames:
• Why should he get out? This is America. If he wants to run that’s all the reason he needs. It seems to me exceedingly presumptuous to think he owes it to the Dems to go home because their cause is more virtuous.
• If the Dems want him to go away they should pick up the anti-corporate mantle and then he’d have no reason to run. Instead, they choose to cozy up to “liberal” corporations (media and entertainment, high tech, legal, education) and trade favors to them for their support, leaving the GOP to trade with “conservative” corporations (energy, health care, defense). Rich individuals just give to all candidates to cover their bets.
• I think it is complete BS to say that he cost Gore the election. Their lame campaign, their inability to carry the ticket’s home states, the fact that the Democratic party was generally out of touch with mainstream American values, the fatigue from eight years of Bill Clinton – every one of those factors was more important than Ralph to Gore’s defeat.
Nice pic of Ralphie from MAD magazine!'
He should get out because he's doing no good. All his rhetoric falls on deaf ears. Like I said, he's totally right in principle, but neither party will EVER stand up to Corporate America!!! If he was able to bring about a change, mazel tov, join the race. But he can't bring squat to the dialogue.
They've all learned to dance around that key issue, shut their traps and just collect the bucks.
If there is anyone who could address this issue, it's Ron Paul. A far more serious contender, but the media doesn't give him the time of day.
I said what I had to say about Gore.
Anonymous no longer!
My hair hurts. Granted not a single testicle between the parties. AY is correct: Washington will never change. The money issue will never go away. Politicians will always vote their interests. But Ralphie simply wants to roil the waters and he will cost the Dems.
Why should Ralph get out when nobody acutally notices whether he's in or not? We've heard the last of Ralph for another four years. He'll get about as much coverage as Duncan Hunter. And rightly so.
You wouldn't want a plumber to move into your house but when you need one, you want one ASAP. RN is the plumber we need now. He would make a mess tearing down and ripping up. But you know that when he is done when you turn on the cold water faucet, cold water will flow out. When he has completed his work, the American people will probably vote him out as the Brits did to Winston Churchill after WWII.
BTW, I too have seen the stats; he didn't cost Gore the election. Failure refuses to stand alone. Ralph was the perfect kicking boy. He even looks like a villain.
One more comment --
Where the hell has Nader been these past 7+ years? He has not uttered a peep while George Bush systematically weakened the EPA and the FDA -- basically destroying his life's work.
Very good point AY. Where has Ralph been this century? Aside from his invisible run in 2004 I haven't heard a peep from him.
Libertarians seem to have their heads in the clouds. We'd all like things to be perfect. We'd all like to live in Utopia but the world is seldom like that. One needs to pick a realistic option and work toward keeping the candidate honest. Bitching, bitching, bitching doesn't work.
So we should all just lower our expectations and take whatever the powers that be give us? This sounds like Cuba, except that Fidel is at least passing the baton.
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